NORTH CAROLINA GKOLOGICAX SURVEY. 



J. A. HOLMES, STATE GEOLOGIST. 



BULLETIN No. 6. 



TIMBER TREES AND FORESTS OF 
NORTH CAROLINA. 



BY 
GIFFORI? PINCHOT 



W. W. ASHE. 




WINSTON: 

M. I. & J. C. Stewart, Public Printers. 

1897. 



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CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Illustrations 7 

Board of Managers 9 

Letter op Transmittal 11 

Preface 13 

Key for the Determination of Larger Forest Trees 17 

Timber Trees of North Carolina 33 

Magnolia foetida ; magnolia 33 

Magnolia glauca ; white bay 34 

Magnolia acuminata ; cucumber tree 35 

Magnolia macrophylla ; great-leaved magnolia 36 

Magnolia tripetala ; umbrella tree 37 

Magnolia fraseri; mountain magnolia 38 

Liriodendron tulipifera; yellow poplar 39 

Asimina triloba ; papaw 41 

Grordonia lasianthus ; loblolly bay 42 

Tilia americana ; basswood 43 

Tilia pubescens ; southern lin 44 

Tilia heterophjlla ; lin 45 

Ilex opaca; holly 46 

Cyrilla racemiflora ; cyrilla 47 

Aesculus octandra ; buckeye 47 

Acer ppicatum ; mountain maple 48 

Acer pennsylvanieum ; striped maple 49 

Acer barbatum ; sugar maple 50 

Acer saccharinum ; silver or white maple 51 

Acer rubrum ; red maple 52 

Acer negundo ; boxelder 53 

Robinia pseudacacia ; yellow locust 54 

Robihia viscosa ; clammy locust 55 

Cladrastis lutea ; yellowwood 56 

Gleditschia triacanthos ; honey locust 56 

Cercis canadensis ; redbud 57 

Prunus pennsylvauica ; wild red cherry, 58 

Prunus serotina ; wild black cherry 59 

Aiuelanchier canadensis; service tree 60 

Liquidambar styraciflua ; sweet gum 61 

Cornus florlda ; dogwood 63 

Nyssa sylvatica; black gum 63 

Nyssa aquatica ; tupelo gum 65 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Oxydendron arboreum ; sourwood 66 

Kalmia latifolia ; laurel 67 

Rhododendron maximum ; great laurel 68 

Diospyros virginiana ; persimmon 68 

Mohrodendron carolinum ; snowdrop tree 70 

Fraxinus americana; white ash 70 

Fraxinus pennsylvanica ; red ash 72 

Fraxinus pennsylvanica, var. lanceolata ; green ash 73 

Fraxinus caroliniana ; water ash 73 

Persea borbonia ; sweet or red bay 74 

Sassafras sassafras ; sassafras 75 

Ulmus americana ; white elm 76 

Ulnius alata ; winged elm 77 

Ulmus fulva ; slippery elm 78 

Morus rubra ; red mulberry 79 

Celtis occidentalis ; hackberry : 80 

Platanus occidentalis ; sycamore 81 

Juglans cinerea ; white walnut 82 

Juglans nigra ; black walnut 83 

Hicoria minima ; bitternut 84 

Hicoria aquatica ; water hickory 85 

Hicoria ovata ; shag-bark hickory 86 

Hicoria alba; white hickory 87 

Hicoria glabra ; pignut 88 

Quercus alba ; white oak.... 1 89 

Quercus minor ; post oak 91 

Quercus lyrata ; overcup oak 92 

Quercus prinus ; chestnut oak 93 

Quercus michauxii ; swamp chestnut oak 95 

Quercus virginiana ; live oak 96 

Quercus rubra; red oak 97 

Quercus texana ; Texas red oak 9S 

Quercus coccinea ; scarlet oak , 99 

Quercus velutina ; black oak 101 

Quercus catesbsei ; fork-leaf black jack oak .- 102 

Quercus digitata ; Spanish oak 103 

Quercus marilandica ; black-jack oak 104 

Quercus nigra; water oak 105 

Quercus laurifolia ; laurel oak 106 

Quercus brevifolia ; upland willow oak 107 

Quercus imbricaria; shingle oak 107 

Quercus phellos ; willow oak 108 

Castanea dentata ; chestnut 109 

Fagus ferruginia ; beech Ill 

Ostrya virginica ; ironwood 112 

Carpinus caroliniana; hornbeam 113 

Betula lutea ; yellow birch 113 



CONTENTS. 5 

PAGE. 

Betula nigra ; river birch 114 

Betula lenta ; cherry or sweet birch 115 

Salix nigra ; black willow 116 

Populus grandidenta ; aspen 117 

Populus heterophylla ; cotton wood 118 

Populus monilifera; Carolina Cottonwood 118 

Thuja oceidentalis ; arbor vitte 119 

Cupressus thyoides ; white cedar. 119 

Juniperus virginiana ; red cedar 121 

Taxodium distichum ; cypress 123 

Pinus strobus ; white pine 123 

Pinus tseda ; loblolly pine 125 

Pinus rigida ; pitch pine 126 

Pinus serotina ; pond pine 127 

Pinus virginiana ; scrub pine 128 

Pinus pungens ; Table Mountain pine 129 

Pinus echinata ; short-leaf pine 130 

Pinus palustris ; long-leaf pine 131 

Picea nigra; black spruce * 133 

Tsuga canadensis ; hemlock 134 

Tsuga caroliniana ; Carolina hemlock 135 

Abies fraseri ; balsam 136 

Sabal i3almetto ; palmetto 136 

Forests op North Carolina 141 

Forest divisions 141 

The coastal plain region .*. 141 

The Piedmont plateau region 141 

The mountain region 142 

Forests of the Coastal Plain Region 143 

Maritime Forests 144 

Soils of the maritime division „ 144 

Condition of the forests ^ 145 

Forests of the Pine Belt 147 

Forest trees 147 

Distinctive growth 148 

Physical characteristics of the pine belt 148 

Changes in the kind of forest growth 149 

Forests op the Pine Belt Uplands 149 

Long-leaf Pine Woodland ! 151 

The pine barrens 152 

Soils of the pine barrens 152 

Conditions of the forests of the pine barrens 153 

Possibilities of the pine barrens 155 

Level pine-woodland 156 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Supply and utilization of long-leaf pine 158 

Treatment required by the long leaf pine forests 159 

Loblolly Pine Woodland 161 

Condition of the forests 163 

Merchantable loblolly pine timber 163 

Forest industries 164 

Forest protection 164 

Reproduction of loblolly pine forests 165 

Sylvicultural treatment of loblolly pine 165 

Transitional Forests 168 

Forests of Lowlands op Coastal Plain 169 

Oak flats 170 

Merchantable timber on oak flats 173 

Sylvicultural treatment 173 

Grum and cypress swamps 178 

Merchantable timber of gum and cypress swamps 174 

White cedar or juniper swamps 175 

Condition of unlumbered swamps 176 

Treatment of white cedar swamps 178 

The pond pine pocosins 179 

Forests of the Piedmont Plateau Region 181 

Forests of the Piedmont lowlands , 183 

Improvement of the forests of the lowlands 185 

Forests of the Piedmont uplands .-...' 186 

Soils of the Piedmont uplands 187 

General condition of the forest -.., 187 

Eastern pine belt of the Piedmont plateau 188 

Forests of the e^stern granite areas 189 

Treatment required by forests of eastern granite areas 199 

Forests of eastern red sandstone belt 191 

Improvements of the forests of the sandstpne belt 193 

Forests of the slate soils 194 

Deciduous forests of the Piedmont plateau 196 

Forests of the compact red loams or red clays 196 

Improvement of the forests 198 

Forest of the loose gray loams 199 

Condition of the deciduous forests of the Piedmont plateau 303 

Western pine belt of the Piedmont plateau 304 

Merchantable timber of western Piedmont pine belt 306 

Improvement of forest 207 

Forests of Mountain Region 308 

Forests of lower mountains 209 

Distinctive growth 310 

Table mountain pine division 310 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 7 

PAGE. 

Merchantable timber of Table mountain pine division 211 

Improvement of the forests 212 

Short-leaf and pitch, pine forests 213 

Condition of the pine forests 214 

Improvement of the forests 215 

White pine forests A 215 

Condition of the white pine forests 216 

Merchantable timber of white pine forests 218 

Improvement of the white pine forests 218 

Forests of the higher mountains 219 

Soils of the higher mountains 220 

Forest trees of the higher mountains 220 

Condition of the forests 221 

Merchantable timber of the higher mountains 222 

Forest industries of the mountain regions 222 

Forests of the mountain summits 223 



Plate I. 

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iii: 
iv/ 



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VII 
VIII 

XI 

XII 

XIII 

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XVII. 



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XIX."^ 

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XXI. "^ 



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XXII. 



xxiii: 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Forest view looking towards Grandfather mountain. 
Frontispiece. 

Liriodendron tulipifera; yellow poplar 89 

Tilia heterophylla ; lin 45 

Acer barbatum ; sugar maple ,.. . 50 

Prunus sei'otina ; group of wild black cherry trees 59 

Fraxinus americana ; white ash 71 

Quercus alba; white oak 89 

Quercus virginiana ; live oak 96 

Quercus rubra; red oak 97 

Quercus nigra ; water oak 105 

Castanea dentata ; chestnut 109 

Betula lenta ; cherry birch 116 

Juniperus virginiana ; red cedar 121 

Pinus strobus ; white pine 124 

Pinus tseda; loblolly pine 125 

Pinus serotina ; pond pine 127 

Pinus palustris; long-leaf pine 131 

Picea nigra; black spruce 133 

Tsuga canadensis; hemlock. 134 

Sabal palmetto; palmetto 137 

Dredge cutting logging canal in eastern cypress 

swamp 173 

Mixed hardwood and piue forest of Piedmont plateau 

region 193 

Mixed hardwood forest of mountain region 221 



8 ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 

Figure 1. -Map showing distribution of cucumber tree and magnolia... 33 
3. Map showing distribution of white bay and mountain mag- 
nolia 34 

3. Map showing distribution of umbrella tree and great-leaved 

magnolia 37 

4: Map showing economic distribution of yellow poplar 40 

5. Map showing distribution of basswood, lin, and southern lin 43 

6. Map showing relative abundance of sugar maple 50 

7. Map showing relative abundance of yellow locust 54 

8. Map showing economic and botanical distribution of wild 

black cherry and distribution of wild red cherry 59 

9. Map showing relative abundance of sweet gum 62 

10. Map showing distribution of black gum and tupelo 64 

11. Map showing distribution of persimmon 69 

12. Map showing distribution of white ash and water ash 71 

13. Map showing distribution of American elm 76 

14. Map showing distribution of winged elm 78 

15. Map showing distribution of black walnut and white walnut 83 

16. Map showing distribution of shag-bark hickory and water- 
bitternut 86 

17. Map showing relative abundance of white and pignut 
hickories 88 

18. Map showing relative abundance of white oak 90 

19. Map showing distribution of post oak 92 

20. Map showing distribution of overcup oak 93 

21. Map showing distribution of chestnut oak and swamp 

chestnut oak 95 

22. Map showing distribution of red oak and Ifve oak 97 

23. Map showing distribution of turkey oak and Texas red oak 99 

24. Map showing relative abundance of scarlet oak 100 

25. Map showing distribution of black oiik and laurel oak 101 

26. Map showing distribution of Spanish oak 103 

27. Map showing distribution of water oak 105 

28. Map showing distribution of shingle and willow oaks 108 

29. Map showing distribution of chestnut and chinquapin 110 

30. Map showing distribution of river birch, cherry birch, and 

yellow birch 115 

31. Map showing distribution of pitch pine and white cedar 120 

32. Map showing relative abundance of red cedar 121 

33. Map showing distribution of white pine and cypress 123 

34. Map showing economic distribution of loblolly pine 125 

35. Map showing distribution of pond pine, hemlock, and 

Carolina hemlock 127 

36. Map showing distribution of scrub pine and Table moun- 

tain pine 128 

37. Map showing economic distribution of short-leaf pine 130 

38. Map showing economic distribution of long-leaf pine 132 



'\ 



BOARD OF MANAGERS. 



GrOVERNOR D. L. RussELL, ex officio Chairman Raleigh. 

CHARiiES McNamee Biltmore. 

J. Turner Morehead Leaksville. 



J. A. Holmes, State Geologist Chapel Hill 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Chapel Hill, N. C, June 19th, 1897. 
To his Excellency, Gov. D. L. Russell, 

Chairman Geological Board, Raleigh, N. C. 
Sir : — I beg to submit for publication as Bulletin 6 of the Geo- 
logical Survey series, a report on the timber trees of North Car- 
olina, by Mr. Gilford Pinchot, and a report on the forests and 
forest conditions in North Carolina, by Mr. W. W. Ashe. Mr. 
Pinchot has prepared his portion of this bulletin free of charge 
for services, and I regard his paper as one of the most valuable 
which has been prepared for the survey. 

There is already a large demand for copies of this bulletin ,- 
even in advance of its being published, and its distribution will 
serve to answer a number of inquiries from many portions of the 
country, concerning the timber supplies in North Carolina. 
With great respect, I beg to remain. 

Yours obediently, 

J. A. Holmes, 
State Geologist. 



PREFACE. 

The present Bulletin was planned as a part of the North Caro- 
lina forest exhibit at Chicago. It was begun before the opening 
of the World's Fair, but, for reasons which need not be recited 
here, remained unfinished. Since that time it has been continued 
under stress of other work as opportunity arose, and has readied 
it present condition only after long delays. 

It is intended, first, to present a succinct statement of certain 
salient characteristics of the more important trees of North Caro- 
lina. The forest flora of no other State is more varied, nor in 
many ways so interesting as this. Partly for this reason, and 
partly for the uses of this Bulletin in identifying trees through- 
out the State, a close restriction to those species which are of 
present value for lumber has not been maintained. 

The second part of the Bulletin, a short account of the various 
forest regions of the State, is contributed entirely by Mr. Ashe, 
whose acquaintance with the woodlands of North Carolina is so 
much more extensive than my own that I have thought it best not 
to attempt to edit his MS. in any way. 

In all matters of punctuation, capitalization, and nomenclature, 
I have preferred to follow the established usage of the Geological 
Survey throughout, rather than depart from it in a few cases 
w^iere my individual preference might have been difterent. 

The material contained in the accounts of the various trees has 
been gathered chiefly from various publications, assisted by such 
personal observations as I have been able to make, or as have 
been contributed by different observers. I have to express my 
indebtedness in particular to Prof. Sargent's magnificent "Silva 
of North America," to Dr. Curtis' "Trees of North Carolina," 
and to Dr. Chapman's "Fbra of the Southern States." Other 
authorities have been consulted in the course of preparation, but 
these are the principal ones. 



14 PREFACE. 

The silvicultiiral notes, largely tentative in character as they 
must necessarily be, are intended to refer only to the bearing of 
each species in JSTorth Carolina. 

Besides Mr. Ashe, to whose notes I am indebted for the descrip- 
tions of the root systems and for other material, and myself, many 
others have joined in the work, but it would carry me too far to 
acknowledge their services in detail. I must ask them to accept 
this general expression of my sincere appreciation of their assist- 
ance. GiFFOED PiNCHOT. 

New York, Nov. 26, 1896. 



KEY FOR THE DETERMINATION 



OF THE 



LARGER iNORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. 



BY 



WILLIAM WILLARD ASHE. 



KEY FOR THE DETERMINATION 

4 
OF THE 

LARGER NORTH CAROLmA FOREST TREES. 

By W. W. Ashe. 



The analytical key given below for the determination of the 
larger forest trees is based on those characters which are most 
accessible and can be obtained throughout the greater part of the 
growing season. A short explanation of some of the terms used 
is given, which may be of some service. 

Opposite leaves are two leaves placed opposite one another, one 
on either side of the twig. Alternate leaves are leaves not so 
placed in pairs along the twig. 

The leaf stem is the stalk on which the leaf stands and by which 
it is fastened to the twig. A simple leaf is one whose leafstem 
is attached directly to the twig ; a compound leaf, one formed of 
numerous separate small leaves, or leaflets, which are attached at 
the end of a common leafstem or along either side of a com- 
mon leafstem. The leaflets along the leafstem can be arranged 
opposite each other or alternately. 

A hud is placed on the twig at the bottom of each leafstem. It 
is generally a small brown prominence or spur formed of over- 
lapping scales. Those buds at the end of the twig are larger than 
those below, and the usual reference is to the end or terminal 
bud. Buds do not reach their full size and color until about the 
middle of July^ but they can be clearly seen as soon as the leaves 
and twig are mature in spring. Most buds are placed on the twig 
just above where the leafstem joins it ; some buds, however, are 
concealed in a cup hollowed out of the base of the leafstem. It 

is important to know where the bud is, as compound leaves are 

2 



18 KEY FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE 

determined in this way, the small leaflets which make them hav- 
ing no buds where they join the leafstem, which otherwise might 
be taken for the twig. 

The Uoig is the growth of the season. Most trees have the buds 
and the leaves, which grow from the same point, scattered rather 
regularly along the twig, only one or rarely two being at the end 
■of the twig ; the oaks, however, have from three to five such buds 
and leaves crowded at the end of the twig, besides those on the 
stem below, and this characteristic grouping of the buds is used 
to separate these trees from all others. Two of the magnolias 
have their leaves and buds so grouped, but on account of the 
large size of the leaves these will not be confused with the oaks. 

The figures in parenthasis refer to the page on which a more 
lengthy description will be found. 



I. CONIFERS, TREES WITH LIMBS, CHIEFLY EVERGREEN AND 
RESIN-BEARING, WITH LEAVES RARELY xV INCH BROAD. 

(1) LEAVES OVER ONE INCH LONG, NEEDLE-LIKE, FROM 3 TO 5 COLLECTED 
IN A SHORT SHEATH.— i^tJie*. 

(a) Leaves 5 together; bark of small limbs whitish 

or gray. (p. 123.) WHITE Pine. 

(&) Leaves 3 together. 

Leaves 10 to 15 inches long ; bud at end of 

the twig covered by many ragged, silvery 

bracts, (p. 131.) ., Long-leap Pine. 

Leaves 6 to 10 inches long ; bud small and 

resinous; cone or burr cylindrical, 5 to 6 

inches long. (p. 125.) .'. Loblolly Pine. 

Leaves 4 to 8 inches long; small bud resi- 
nous ; cone top-shaped ; trees of eastern 

swamps. " (p 127.) Pond or savanna Pine. 

Leaves 3 to 5 inches long ; cone top-shaped ; 

western trees on dry ridges or rarely in deep 

swamps; buds resinous, (p. 126.) (Northern) Pitch Pine. 

(c) Leaves 2 together, rarely 3. 

Leaves about 4 inches long ; cone less than 
2 inches long; young twigs covered with a 
whitish or i»inkish bloom; buds not resin- 
ous ; large and common trees, (p. 130.) Short leap Pine. 

Leaves about 2 inches long ; cone %\ inches 

long ; small trees with curving branches, 

and thin scaly bark on old trunks, (p. 128.)-Jersey OR SCRUB Pine. 

Leaves about 2 inches long ; cone large with 

stout hooked prickles on the ends of the 

scales ; a rare tree, occurring chiefly along 

the Blue Ridge, (p. 129.) Table-mountain Pine. 



LARGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. 19 



(2) LEAVES FLATTENED, RARELY 1 INCH LONG, SCATTERED SINGLY ALONG 
THE TWIG ; FRUIT NOT A BERRY. 

(a) Large and common trees of eastern swamps ; 
not evergreen ; the end of the twig falling 
off in the autumn. 

Leaves spreading in two rows, one on either 

side of the twig. (p. 132.) Cypress, 

Leaves, appressed to the twig, in many rows 
on all sides of it ; smaller tree than the 

above, growing in pine barren ponds Pond Cypress'. 

(&) Trees of the mountains ; evergreen. 

Fruit a small burr or cone, about 1 inch 
long or less. 

Leaves white beneath, in two rows, one 

on either side of the twig; growing 

along mountain streams, (p. 134.) Hemlock. 

Leaves scattered on all sides of the twig ; 

scales of the cone larger than the last 

and spreading ; rare trees, chiefly along 

the Blue Ridge, (p. 135.) .'. Carolina Hemlock. 

Fruit a larger, cylindrical cone, 2 to 4 inches 
long ; trees of high mountains. 

Leaves green, nearly round, scattered on 

all sides of the twig. (p. 133.) Black Spruce. 

Leaves in one row on either side of the 

twig, white beneath ; trees with white, 

smooth bark, found on the highest 

mountains, (p. 136 ) Carolina Fir or Balsam. 

<3) LEAVES SHORT, SCALE-LIKE, LESS THAN ^-INCH LONG ; TWIGS OF THE 

YEAR GREEN. — Cedars. 

Spray, that is a bunch of twigs, flattened ; fruit a (Juniper. 

small cone ; trees of eastern swamps, (p. 119.) White Cedar or 

Twigs round ; fruit a small, blue berry ; (often 
bearing large, hard, brown excrescences on 
twigs); dry soil. (p. 121.) Red Cedar. 

Twigs, as well as the spray (bunch of twigs) flat- 
tened ; fruit a small cone ; rocky slopes of the 
Blue Ridge, also extensively cultivated, (p. 119.) Arborvitae. 



IT. BROAD-LEAF TREES ; TREES WITH LIMBS ; LEAVES FROM 
i OF AN INCH TO 10 INCHES BROAD, CHIEFLY DECIDUOUS. 

(1) LEAVES COMPOUND AND PLACED ALTERNATELY ALONG THE TWIG. 

(a) Leaflets placed alternately along the common 

leafstem, 7 to 11 in number; flowers white; 

fruit a dry pod ; S. W. mountains ; rare. (p. 56) Yellowwood. 

(&) Stout thorns at the base of each leafstem and 

each leaflet ; leaflets dotted with translucent 

dots; bark warty and thorny; sandy sea 

coast Prickly Ash-. 

iTaxodiuni disticliuiu imbricaria (Xattall) As.^e, Haadbojk: of Nordh Carolina, p. 43 
(1896). 

2Xantlioxyluin carolinlanum. Lam. 



20 KEY FOR THE DETEEMIN A.TION OF THE 



(c) Twigs angled, frequently bearing two flat- 
tened thorns at the base of each leafstem ; 
leaflets not toothed, opposite on the leafstem, 

over 11 in number ; flowers white ; fruit a , 

dry pod ; bark furrowed, not thorny, (p. 54.) Yellow Locust, 

{d) Twigs round, stout ; frequently compound 

thorns scattered over limbs and trunk ; 

leaves, frequently twice compound, with 

rather small, toothed leaflets ; fruit a long, 

dark brown, pulpy, many-seeded pod. (p. 56.) HONBY LoCUST. 

(e) Twigs sticky or clammy ; fruit a dry pod ; 

Macon county, also cultivated ; a shrub or in 

cultivation a small tree. (p. 50.) Clammy Locust. 

(/) Twigs smooth, bearing prominent brown 
buds ; leaflets sharply toothed, smooth ; 
flow^ers w^hite, small, in large clusters ; fruit 
small, red and berry-like ; bruised bark on 
twigs, bitter and scented like cherry bark; 

highest mountains Mountain Ash^. 

{g) Twigs not thorny or sticky ; usually from 2 to 
4 buds above each leaf-scar ; sharply toothed 
leaflets opposite on leafstem, over 3 inches 
long, 5 to 13 in number ; fruit a nut, with a 
husk dividing in 4 ipeirts.— Hickories. 

Leaves and leafstems smooth, not hairy; 
leaflet 6 to 7 : buds scaly. 

Leaflets 5, smooth ; no resinous particles 
on lower surface ; nut not angled, with 
a thick shell and thin husk, often pear- 
shaped ; bark not scaly, (p. 88.) PlGNUT. 

Leaflets very large, 5 or 7, smooth, but 
thickly dotted beneath with resinous 
pai-ticles; twigs, smooth, shining, pur 
I)le-brown ; nut angled, w^hitish or 
mealy, rather thin-shelled ; the husk 
greenish-brown, roughened with min- 
ute prominencies, often splitting-to the 

base; large trees with shaggy or loose (HlCKORY^. 

bark ; common, (p. 88.) Red heart or Smallnut 

Leaflets 5, smooth ; nut white, small, 

sharply angled, with thin, white shell 

and thick husk, the fruit globular ; 

bark very shaggy ; trees of dry or rocky (Hickory^. 

ridges Small or Carolina Shagbark 

Leaflets 5 to 11, downy or hairy beneath ; 
buds scaly. 

Leaflets 5 or 7, soft-velvety beneath ; 

nut with thick husk and thin, white (Hickory. 

shell; trees with shaggy bark. (p. 86.)....Sha& OR Scaly-bark 

Leaflets 5 to 9, soft-downy beneath ; 
twigs and buds very stout ; nut brown, 
oblong, thick-shelled ; husk thick ; 
large trees of low grounds, with shaggy 
bark ; infrequent Large Shagbark Hickory*. 

iPyrus americana, (Marshall) De CandoUe. 
2Hlcoria odorata, (Marshall) Sargent. 

sHicoria carolinas-septentrioiialis, Ashe. Notes on the Hickories, Chapel Hill, N. C. 
(4896.) 

4Hicoria laciniosa, (Michaux flls) Sargent. 



LARGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. 21 



Leaflets 7 to 11, rough-hairy beneath ; 

nut thick-shelled, with thick husk ; 

bark of tree rough but not shaggy, (p. 87.) White Hickory. 

Leaflets scurfy beneath with silvery 

particles ; leafstem and midribs hairy ; 

nuts thick-shelled, the husk usually 

adhering to it ; bark very rough ; small 

trees on sandy soil ; throughout except 

high mountains Sand Hickory^ 

Leaflets 7 or more, and leafstem, often 
smooth ; nuts thin-shelled and bitter ; husk 
thin and adhering to the nut ; end buds, 
long, yellow, without scales (naked). 

Leaflets 7 to 11, soft-velvety or smooth- 
ish beneath ; nut large, very thin-shelled 

and bitter; husk thin. (p. 84.) Bitternut Hickory. 

Leaflets 9 to 13, smooth ; nut small, very 
thin-shelled and bitter; confined to the 
lower Cape Fear section, (p. 85.) Water (bitternut) Hickory. 

{h) Leaflets smaller, over 11 in number ; fruit a 
nut with a husk or rind which does not split 
at all on the mature nut ; pith brown, cham- 
bered. — Walnuts. 

Leaflets soft-velvety ; fruit nearly round, (p. 83.) Black Walnut. 

Leaflets clammy or sticky ; fruit oblong, (p. 84.) White Walnut. 

(2) LEAVES compound AND PLACED OPPOSITE ON THE TWIG. 

(a) Leaflets 5 or 7, spreading from the same point 
at the end of the leaf-stem ; fruit 2 or 3 brown 
nuts in a yellow or brownish husk. (p. 47.) Buckeye. 

(&) Twigs and buds green and shining ; leaflets 3 

or 5, coarsely toothed; fruit with 2 wings, (p. 53.) Boxelder. 

(c) Twigs stout and brown ; buds brown and 
scurfy ; fruit with a single wing.— Ashes. 

(1) The very broad wing entirely surround- 
ing the seed ; leaflets 5 to 9, green both 

sides ; eastern, (p. 73.) Water Ash 

(2) Fruit narrowly winged at one end only ; 
leaflets 7 to 9. 

Leaves whitened beneath ; twigs 

either smooth or velvety, (p. 70.) White Ash. 

Twigs, buds and green lower surface 
of leaves velvety ; fruit narrowly 
winged, (p. 72.) Red Ash. 

Twigs and leaves smooth ; leaves 

bright green beneath, sharply toothed, (p. 73.). GtREEN Ash. 

(3) LEAVES SIMPLE AND PLACED OPPOSITE ON THE TWIG. 

(a) Leaves entire, thin, oblong, large, over 2 inches 
long, downy beneath ; flowers, slender, droop- 
ing, white; fruit plum-like Fringe Tree^ 

{b) Leaves evergreen, thick, smooth, pointed, 3 to 
5 inches long ; fruit large, 1-seeded ; rich 
hummocks along the coast. Devilwood or Oliver 

iHicoria villosa (Sarg.) Ashe. 
2Chionantlius virginica, Linnaeus. 
aQsmanthusamericanus, (Linnaeus) Bent tiam & Hooker. 



22 KEY FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE 



(f) Leaves toothed, obloug, small, 2 inches long; 
buds small and acute, or large, round, and 
flattened from the top ; flowers seeming soli- 
tary, large and white ; fruit a cluster of red 
berries ; twigs purple or green, (p. 63.) Dogwood. 

[d) Leaves oblong, 1+ to 3 inches long, toothed 
or entire-margined; buds, long-stalked, rusty- 
scurfy ; flowers white, small, in flat-topped 
clusters; fruit black or bluish, containing a 
seed grooved on the side ; small trees or 

shrubs several kinds of Black Haws K 

(e) Leaves broader and short, 3 to 51obed; fruit 

with wings. — IlajJles. (The three first fre- 
quently gi-own as shade trees.) 

Buds red, blunt ; leaves white beneath, 
generally with 3 shallow lobes ; very 
common; wings of fruit I- inch long. (p. 52.) Red Maple. 

Buds red, blunt ; leaves white beneath 
with 3 to 5 lobes; wings of fruit 

more than 1 inch long ; cultivated, (p. 51.) White Maple. 

Buds brown, acute ; leaves over 2 inches 
wide, green or white beneath with 3 
lobes, each lobe 3-notched ; large trees 
with rough, hard, shaggy bark ; fruit 

H inch in length, (p. 50.) Sugar Maple. 

Leav-es as in the sugar maple, but only 
half the size ; fruit less than one inch 
long ; small trees with smooth gray 
bark, branching near the ground ; 
rocky river banks in the counties 
drained by the Yadkin and Catawba 
rivers White-bark Maple*. 

Small trees of the high mountains, 
above 3,000 feet, with striped branches, 
green twigs and large, smooth, 3-lobed 
leaves ; long, stalked, purplish buds. (p. 49.). -Striped Maple. 

Small trees of the highest mountains, 
over 4,000 feet, with i3urplish twigs and 
3-lobed leaves, velvety beneath, (p. 48.) Mountaia" Maple. 

(4) LEAVES SIMPLE AND ALTERNATE OR SCATTERED ALONG THE TWIG. 

(a) Leaves mostly I'ather large, 3 or more inches 

long, nearly as broad as long, more or less 

heart-shaped. 

, (1) Small ti-ees ; leaves smooth and with 

entire edges; fruit a pod; flowers in 

early spring, bright red. (p. 57.) Redbud. 

(2) Larger trees, with leaves triangular, 
smoothish, finely toothed on the mar- 
gins ; buds resinous when crushed. — 
Cottonwoods. 

Trees of eastern swamps ; leaves 

3 Species of Viburnum. 

2Acer leucoderme, Smal], Bui. Tor. Hot. CI., xxii, p. 367. 



LARGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. 23 



finely toothed; leafstemflat ; twigs 

angled, (p. 118.) Cottonwood. 

Trees of lowgrounds, eastern and 
middle sections ; leaves finely 

toothed ; leafstem round, (p. 118.). .Carolina Cottonwood. 
Trees on dry slopes of the Blue 
Ridge ; leaves, about 2 inches long, 
coarsely toothed; leafstem flat- 
tened, (p. 117.) Aspen. 

(3) Mostly trees on the mountains or cool 
banks; flowers white, in early summer; 
fruit a small, dry berry ; leaves sharply 
toothed ; twigs with large buds and 
inodorous bark. — Lins or Lindens. 

Leaves thin and neai'ly smooth, 
green both sides ; found chiefly 

around high mountains, (p. 42.) Basswood. 

Leaves thickish and white beneath, (id. 45.) Lin. 

Leaves thickish, velvety beneath ; 
found chiefly on cool hummocks 
near the coast, (p. 44.) Southern Lin. 

(4) Small trees of rich woodland ; bark ill- 

scented when broken ; fruit, ripening 
in summer, a black, edible berry; 
often cultivated, (p. 79.) Mulberry. 

(&) Leaves about as broad as long, 2 to 5 inches 
long, not heart shaped in outline; buds scat- 
tered ; large and common trees except last. 

Leaves large, with a broad notch at the 

top, lobed on the sides ; large buds flat- (Yellow Poplar, 

tened; in rich woods and along streams, (p. 39.)--Tulip-tree OR 

Leaves small, deeply 5-lobed : crushed 

buds resinous scented ; twigs often with 

corky wings ; fruit a rough ball, about 

1 inch in diameter hanging by a stem 2 

to 3 inches long. (p. 61.) Sweet Gum. 

Leaves 3 to 5-lobed, white beneath with 

soft wool ; leafstem covering the bud ; 

trunk of tr. e smooth and whitish 

above; fruit a rather smooth ball, 

about 1 inch in diameter, hanging by a 

slender stem ; mostly along streams, (p. 81.) Sycamore. 

Leaves with sharp spines along their 

edges, thick, evergreen, dark green ; 

trees with smooth gray bark. (p. 40.) Holly. 

(c) Leaves large, 4 to 30 inches long, oblong in 
outline, not toothed or lobed; flowers large 
and white. — Magnolias. 

Leaves thick, evergreen, over 6 inches 

long, brown-hairy beneath ; Brunswick (Magnolia. 

county, and frequently cultivated, (p. 33.) Evergreen 

Leaves smaller, white beneath; bark 
white and smooth ; buds silky ; eastern 
swamps White Bay. 

Leaves 4 to 6 inches long, greenish 
beneath ; bark furrowed ; buds silky- 
hairy ; mountains Cucumber Tree. 



24 KEY FOE THE DETERMINATION OF THE 



Leaves large, 10 to 30 inches long ; buds 

silky; rare; western, (p. 36.) GtREAt-leaved Magnolia. 

Leaves 10 to 15 inches long, with a deep 

notch at the bottom, often collected at ' ■, • 

the end of the twig ; buds not hairy ; 

high mountains, (p. 38.) Wahoo or Mountain Magj^olia. 

Leaves 10 to 20 inches long, pointed at 
each end, collected at the ends of the 
twigs; along streams, (p. 37.) Umbrella .Tree. 

{d) Leaves longer than broad.. 2 to 8 inches long ; 
twigs mostly brown, with from 2 to 5 buds 
crowded at the top, other buds scattered 
below ; fruit an acorn, i. e. a nut with the 
base enclosed in a scaly cup. — Oaks. 

(1) Leaves not at all lobed or toothed, except 
on vigorous shoots, wedge-shaped or tri- 
angular or long and narrow in outline ; 

•leafstems short. — Water Oaks and Willow 
Oaks. 
*1) Leaves^green on both sides. 

Leaves 4 to 6 inches long, triangular 

in outline, thick; buds large; twigs 

thick ; acorn large, f inch wide ; 

small trees ; bark rough, black, (p. 103.) Black-jack Oak: 

Leaves narrowly triangular, 2 to 8 
inches long ; twigs slender ; buds 
small and blunt ; nut small ; trees 
with smoothish gray bark ; eastern, (p. 105.) Water Oak. 

Leaves very narrow, pointed ; twigs 
slender ; in the middle and eastern 
parts of the State, usually in wet 

places, (p. 108) Willow Oak. 

Leaves paler beneath and downy ; 
banks of streams along the Blue 
Ridge and to the westward, (p. 107) Shingle Oak. 

*2) Leaves whitened beneath, 2 to 5 "inches 
long ; extreme east. 

Leaves very narrow ; acorn small, 

globose, whitened ; small trees on dry (Willow Oak. 

sandy soil. (p. 107.) Barren or Upland 

Leaves broader, evergreen; large trees, 

on the coast, with a long acorn, (p. 96.) Live Oak. 

(2) Leaves more or less lobed, the divisions 

tipped with a bristle. — Bed Oaks and 
Black Oaks. 

*1) Leaves with a leafstem less than 1 inch 
long. 

Leaves broad, 3-lobedat the top. (p. 103.) Black-.jack Oak. 

Leaves narrow, i to 1 inch broad, with 

shallow lobes; on the sea coast, (p. 106.) Laurel Oak. 

Leaves about 2 inches wide with 3 ■ 
lobes at the top or shallow lobes on 

the sides ; mountains Lea'S Oak^ 

• Leaves green and smooth on both 

sides with many long, often curved 

iQuercus leana, Nuttall. 



LAEGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. 25 



lobes ; acorn large ; cup with coarse, 

spreading scales ; small trees with (jack or Sand Oak. 

rough, gray bark; on pine barrens, (p. 102.)..Fork-I;EAf Black- 

*2) Leaves with a long and slender leaf- 
stem, 1 to 3 inches long, green beneath. 
Leaves over twice as long as broad, 

the lobes acute; rare ; middle section Bartram's Oak^. 

Leaves broader, generally not twice as 
long as broad with many lobes on 
each side ; large trees. 

§) With deep and rounded hollows be- 
tween the lobes of the leaves ; large 
trees. 

Light gray bark on limbs ; nut half 

• covered by the cup ; common on 

dry, stiff or gravelly soils ; twigs 

brownish, (p. 99.) SCARLET Oak. 

With dark gray bark on branches ; 
only base of nut covered by the 
cup ; rare ; along streams of the 
middle counties ; twigs steel-gray. (p. 98.)..Texas Red Oak. 

§) With shallower, acute hollows 
between the lobes of the leaf. 

Leaves downy beneath ; cup cover- 
ing half of the large nut ; bark 

rough and black, (p. 101.) Black Oak. 

Leaves smooth beneath ; cup very 
shallow ; bark striped, dark, and 

light gray ; western, (p. 97.) (Northern) Red Oak. 

"*3) Leaves wliitened beneath ; leafstem 

slender ; nut small, globular, (p. 103.) Spanish Oak. 

<3) Leaves more or less lobed or toothed, 
the divisions rounded and not bristle- 
tipped ; leafstems less than 1 inch long ; 
bark gray, furrowed or shaggy.— White 
Oaks and Chestnut Oaks. 

Leaves deeply 5 to 9-lobed ; nut 
nearly covered by the cup ; in the 

eastern swamps, (p. 92.) Ovbrcup Oak. 

Leaves deeply 5 to 7-lobed ; cup 
• ono-half the length of the acorn ; 

small trees, common on dry soil. (p. 91) Post Oak. 

Leaves 7 to 9-lobed ; cup of acorn 
shallow ; large trees ; light gray 

bark; common, (p. 89.) White Oak. 

Leaves thick with many, rounded, 
shallow lobes ; bark deeply fur- 
rowed ; dry soil ; western ; acorn 

very large, (p. 93.) ...RocK Chestnut Oak. 

Leaves thin, velvety beneath, with 
many rounded, shallow lobes ; bark 
shaggy ; swamps and river banks 

eastward, (p. 95.) Swamp Chestnut Oak. 

(e) Leaves more than 3 inches long, sharply 
toothed on the sides and with prominent, 

iQuercus heterophylla, Michau.x. 



26 KEY FOE THE DETERMINATION OF THE 



straight veins ; buds scattered along the twig, 
as are the leaves. 

(1) Buds oblique to the axis of the twig; 
fruit edible, brown nuts enclosed ia 

a prickly burr. 

Leaves over 6 inches long, green both 

sides, (p. 109.) Chestnut. 

Leaves about 4 inches long, white- 
downy beneath Chinquapin^ 

(2) End bud long and slender, silky, 

brown ; twigs unpleasant scented ; 
leaves about 10 inches long ; fruit 
when ripe yellow and pulpy, (p. 41.) Papaw. 

(/) Leaves about 4 laches long, veins not 
straight and prominent, evergreen, thick, 
smooth, dark green, irregularly toothed, 
sharply pointed ; flowers large, white ; fruit 
a woody capsule ; small tree of eastern 
swamps with a straight trunk, not forking 
and narrow, conical. top. (p. 42.) Loblolly Bay. 

(g) Leaves generally less than '6 inches long (with 
exceptions under ij^ 1 and 2), and scattered 
along the twig as are the buds. 

(1) LEAVES NOT TOOTHED ON THE MARGIN, 2 TO 5 INCHES LONG. 

Leaves and twigs aromatic ; fruit a deep 
blue berry on a red stalk. 

Leaves evergreen, thick, dark green, 
hairy beneath, as is the brownish 

twig; eastern swamps, (p. 94.) Red Bay OR Sweet Bay^ 

Leaves as in the above, but smooth 
beneath, as are the twigs ; sandy 
sea coast....... Smooth Red Bay. 

Leaves often 2 or 8-lobed ; bark 

aromatic : fields and fence rows ; 

twigs green -. Sassafras. 

Leaves and twigs not aromatic; fruit 
various. 

Leaves thickish, smooth, evergreen, 
narrowed at the base; fruit many 
small capsules ; small trees or shrubs 
with smooth, thin, brown bark ; 

eastern swamps, (p. 47.) Cyrilla. 

Leaves 2 to 4 inches long ; bark not 
aromatic; fruit a small blue berry ; 

common throughout the State, (p. 63.) Black Gum. 

Leaves 4 to 6 inches long ; rarely • 
coarsely toothed ; fruit a blue 
berry i inch long ; deep eastern 

swamps, (p. 65.) Tupelo GtUM. 

Leaves about 2 inches long, thick, 
evergreen, pointed ; flowers white ; 
fruit a black one-seeded cherry ; 
twigs bitter; Smith's Island MoCK ORANGE^ 

iCastanea pumila, Linnaeus. 

zPersecl borbonia pubescens (Pursh) nom. nov. : P. pubescens, Sargent, Sylva, vii, p. 7 
(189.5). 
sPrunus caroliniana, (Miller) Alton. 



LAKGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. 27" 



Fruit when ripe roundish, yellow, 
pulpy and edible ; astringent when 
green, the 4-lobed calyx persistent 
at its bade ; seed several, flat ; flelds. (p. 68.) Persimmon. 

(3) LEAVES LOBED, OR TOOTHED ON THE MARGIN. 

Fruit pulpy or fleshy, as in apple or cherry. 

Leaves often lobed ; twigs armed with 
stout thorns ; fruit a small sour apple 
one inch in diameter, yellow when 
ripe; flowers iDink, sweet-scented. 

2 kinds of Crab Applet 

Leaves variously lobed or toothed, 
twigs often armed with long slender 
thorijs ; buds very small ; flowers 
white, about 4 inch in diameter in 
large, flat-topped clusters, in spring ; 
fruit, berry-like, orange or red. In clus- 
ters ; small trees with bark of trunk 
scaly or pealing off in thin sheets or 
scaly several kinds of Red (Haw) Thorn'^ 

Leaves silky-hairy beneath ; the edible 
red fruit sulall and berry-like ; bark 

smooth and white, (p. 60.) Service Tree. 

Bark of trees bitter to taste ; leaves 
smooth, finely and sharply toothed ; 
fruit one -seeded. 

Fruit a black cherry ; floAvers in a 
drooping raceme at the end of the 

twig; frequent, (p. 59.) Wild Black Cherry. 

Fruit a red cherry ; flowers in slen- 
der, long stemmed clusters along 
the sides of ihe twig ; occurs only on 
highest mountains, (p. 58.) "Wild Red Cherry. 

Flowers in long-stemmed clusters 

along the sides of twig ; fruit red or 

yellow when ripe, about i inch long ; 

seed flattened ; small trees, some- 
times with thorny branches ; flelds, 

waste places or along streams 

2 kinds of Wild Plum*. 

Bark of tree often with corky out- 
growths ; fruit a small 1-seeded sweet 
berry ; leaves thin and nearly smooth, 
tapering to a sharp point, unequal 
sided; chiefly along streams, (p. 80.) Hackberry. 

Fruit various, either a nut or dry. 

A. Leaves over three times as long as 'broad. 

Leaves green beneath and not hairj^, finely 
toothed, long and narrow, \ to J inch 
broad ; twigs brittle, yellow or red ; com- 
mon along streams and wet places, except 
in the coastal plain where it is largely 
replaced by the next. (p. 116.) Black Willow. 

iPyrus coronaria, LiiinEeus and C. angustifolia, Alton. 

2 Species of Cratsej^us. 

sPrunus americana, Marshall and P. angusrifolia, MarshaU. 



28 KEY FOK THE DETERMHSTATION OF THE 



Like the above, but the larger leaves, 

though smooth, whitened beneath; eastern ....Ward Willow^. 

Leaves whitened beneath with a fine 
down, at least when young ; later smooth 
but white ; twigs mostly red and purple ; 
small slender trees, along streams, chiefly 
western and central CtLAUCOUS Willow^. 

Twigs with no bud at the end, tipped by 
a hard point or white flowers or fruit ; 
leaves 3 to 4 inches long, finely toothed, 
smooth, acid when chewed, (p.' 66.) Sourwood. 

A. Leaves less than three times as long as broad. 

Terminal bud over i inch long ; fruit a 

3-angled nut, bark of trunk smooth, light ' 

gray; leaves straight-veined, (p. 111.) Beech. 

Small trees with smooth, light gray bark, 
fluted trunk, beech-like leaves and hop- 
like clusters of fruit ; bud short ; very 

common along streams, (p. 113.) Hornbeam. 

Leaves 3 to 4 inches long, sharp-pointed, 
downy beneath, as is the leafstem ; flow- 
ers, white, bell-shaped, in drooping clus- 
ters ; fruit about i inch long, 3-angled, 
the angles winged ; usually small trees 
with striped green and brown branches ; 
along streams and cool hollows in the 

mountains, (p. 70.) Snowdrop-tree. 

Bark of small limbs peeling off in thin 
papery layers ; flowers in catkins in 
spring ; fruit cylindrical in shape, 1 inch 
long, covered with green bi'acts, each 
with a seed at its base within. — Birches. 

Layers of bark red or pinkish ; leaves 

pale beneath ; common along streams, (p. 114.). ...River Birch. 

Layers of bark silvery white; trees of 
highest mountains ; leaves green be- 
neath, (p. 113.) Yellow Birch. 

Bark of twig having the taste of winter- 
green (or peppermint) when chewed; 
flowers and fruit of the above ; trees of 

cool mountains, (p. 115.) Sweet or Cherry Birch. 

The remaining native forest trees all have 
have small leaves, from 1 to 2 inches long 
long, green both sides and flnely and 
. sharply toothed. They are either elms or 
elm-like in the appearance of their foli- 
age, and it is difficult to give accessible 
leaf-characters for their identification. 

Twigs yellowish or light brown ; 
buds minute, sometimes clustered ; 
fruit a small scaly nut ; bark smooth, 
dark gray ; confined to the lower 

Cape Fear section Planer Trbe^. 

Fruit in hop-like clusters; small 

iSalix longipes warclii (Bebb) nom. nov. ; S. nigra wardi, Bebb, Bui. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 
jxxii, p. 114. 

2Salix discolor, Muehlenburg. 
spianera aquatica, Grmel. 



LARGER NORTH CAROLINA FOREST TREES. 



29 



(beam OR Ironwood. 

(p. 113.) HOP-HORN- 



trees, with shaggy, brown bark, 
growing on rich hillsides ; western. 

Remaining large trees ; fruit a 
winged seed falling in spring 
before the leaves appear ; exten- 
sively cultivated for shade trees. 
— Elms. 

Twigs very hairy; the leaves broadly 
oval, rough and hairy ; twigs gummy 
when chewed ; infrequent, (p. 78.).... 
Twigs smoothish ; leaves over 2 
inches long, but slightly rough ; 

bark on large trees mostly scaly, (p. 76.) White Elm. 

Twigs smoothish; the leaves about 
3 inches long ; bark on large 
trunks firm and furrowed ; the bark 
of twigs often corky winged, (p. 77.-) Winged Elm. 



.Slippery Elm. 



III. PALMS; TREES WITHOUT LIMBS; 
Imited in this State to the Palmetto, a 
small tree with unbranched stena about 10 
inches in diameter and a small crown of 
evergreen leaves two feet or more in breadth ; 
found only along the coast to the south of 
Cape Hatteras. (p. 136.) 



-Palmetto. 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



BY 



GIFFORD PINCHOT 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



By Gifford Pinchot 



Mag-nolia foetida, Sargpiit.* 

(MAGNOLIA.) 

A large pyramidal tree, with gray or light brown bark covered 
with small thin scales, reaching a height of 90 and a diameter of 
4J feet. 

It occurs southward from the mouth of the Cape Fear river, 
rarely more than fifty or sixty miles from the coast, to Mosquito 
inlet and Tampa bay, Florida; along the Gulf coast to the val- 
ley of the Brazos river, Texas ; in western Louisiana and southern 
Arkansas, and on the bluff's of the lower Mississippi, where it 
reaches its best development. 



MAP OF 
KOSTH CABOLIBTA 

SCALE 



MOUNTAIN 
^GION /__ PIEDMONTJ 




LEGEND. 

Distributron of the CUCUMBER TREE 
(Magnolia acuminata, L.) 

Distribution of the MAGNOLIA (Mag- 
nolia foetida, Sarg.) 



In JN^orth Carolina, where it grows to an average height of 50 
to 70 feet, it is found rather sparingly in Brunswick county, in 
the southeast corner of the State (fig. 1), growing in the rich, 
moist soil of river swamps. 

It reproduces itself rather slowly in the latitude of this State, 

*MagnoUa grandiflora, Llnnteus. 



34 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



and young seedlings are very rarely found in the forest, although 
the tree flowers and matures fruit not only regularly but, for the 
most part, abundantly as well. 

The long thick leathery evergreen leaves are downy underneath, 
and remain upon the tree for two years. The fragrant creamy- 
white flowers are very large and conspicuous, often 7 or 8 inches 
across. The oval fruit is rusty brown in color, 3 to 4 inches long 
by Ij to 2i inches broad. The winter-buds are thickly covered 
with dark rusty hairs. The roots, finely divided, penetrate the- 
soil to a moderate depth. 

The wood is moderately hard, close-grained, not strong, easily 
worked, not durable in contact with the soil, and is as valuable 
as that of the other magnolias ; creamy-white in color; the thick 
sapwood nearly white. Although well suited for cabinet work- 
and interior finish, the wood is little used except for fuel. 

Magnolia glauca, Linaseus. 
(white bay. sweet bay. swamp bay.) 

A slender tree, with gray branches and light brown small-scaled 
bark, reaching a height of 70 and a diameter of 3? feet. 

It occurs in deep, wef swamps as far north as Massachusetts, 
where it is reduced to a low siirub, and extends from New Jersey 



MAP OF 
NOKTH CAKOLINA 



COASTAL PLAIN R_EG'OM _^ ^ 




LEGEND 
Distribution of the WHITE BAY 
(Magnolia glauca, /..) 

Distribution of the MOUNTAIN MAGNOUA 
(Magnolia iias^Ti,JVali.) 



southward, generally near the coast, to Florida, where it reaches 
its best development, and southern Texas. It is not found in the 



CUCUMBER TREE. 35 

Appalachian mountains. In the South Atlantic and Gulf states 
it forms, with the loblolly bay and red bay, low, almost impene- 
trable thickets on tbe borders of pine barren ponds and shal- 
low swamps, and reaches its best development in the interior of 
Florida. 

In North Carolina, w^here it attains an average height of 12 to 
25 feet, it is confined to wet lands or the margins of bodies of fresh 
or salt water in the eastern part of the Piedmont plateau and in 
the coastal plain region (fig. 2, p. 34), although not common in 
the former. In the coastal plain region theie are two well-marked 
forms, dependent upon the quality of.the soil ; one, a tree of some 
size, the other rarely over 10 feet in height. With the white 
cedar it forms a large part of the grow^tb of the "juniper ])ays.'" 
Sometimes after the white cedar has been cnt, and usually after 
these swamps have been burned, thickets of this bay appear. 

Seed is borne abundantly every year. The rate of growth is 
fairlj^ rapid, especially in youth. Trees of all ages sprout freely 
from the stumps, and shoots usually appear after a tree has been 
killed by fire. 

The oblong leaves, which are pale green above and white 
beneath, are partly deciduous in this State, especially toward the 
Piedmont plateau. The j)ure white fragrant flowers bloom in May, 
and the dark red iruit is oval, smooth, 2 inches long, and li 
inches broad. The winter-buds are thickly covered with fine hairs. 
The tree has a superficial root system. 

The wood is soft, light, close-grained, and not strong; light 
brown in color; the thick sapwood creamy-white. It is occasion- 
ally used for broom handles and woodenware. A tonic and diu- 
retic is obtained from the bark. 

Magnolia acuminata, Linnaeus. 

(cucumber tree.) 

A tall slender tree, with furrowed dark brown bark broken into 
numerous thin scales, reaching a height of 90 and a diameter of 
5 feet. 

It occurs from western New York through southern Ontario to 



36 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

southern Illinois, and southward along the Appalachian moun- 
tains to southern Alabama and northeastern Mississippi. It grows 
sparingly in central Kentucky and Tennessee, and in portions of 
Arkansas, and roaches its best development in the mountains of 
Tennessee and the Carolinas. 

In North Carolina, where it attains an average height of 60 to 
80 feet and an average diameter of 3 to 4 feet, it is found on moist, 
fertile soil in the mountains, and rarely as far to the east of the 
mountains as Stanly county. (Fig. 1, p. 33.) Seed is produced 
frequently but seldom abundantly. Though young seedlings are 
common, many of them are quickly crowded out by other species 
when the mature trees are removed. Smaller trees sprout from 
the stump to a limited extent. The rate of growth is rapid. 

The rather broad, pointed leaves aie bright green above and 
slightly paler below. The yellowish-green flowers appear towards 
the latter part of May, and the dark red fruit is oblong, 2i to 3 
inches long by 1 inch broad. The winter-buds are densely cov- 
ered with silky white hairs. 

There are numerous deep lateral roots and, rarely, a taproot. 

The wood is soft, satiny, light, not strong, close-grained and 
durable ; light yellow-brown in color ; the thin sapwood often 
nearly white. It is used for water pipes, troughs, flooring and 
cabinetmaking. This tree has been cut to a large extent in most 
of the mountain counties except Alleghan}^, Graham, Mitchell, 
Clay, Watauga, Yancey, Macon, and Swain. 

Magnolia macrophylla, Michaux. 
(great-leaved magnolia.) 

A spreading tree, with thin smooth, light gray bark divided 
into minute scales, reaching a height of 50 feet and a diameter of 
20 inches. 

It occurs from the sheltered valleys about the base of the Alle- 
ghany mountains of North Carolina and southeastern Kentucky, 
to middle and western Florida and southern Alabama, and through 
northern Mississippi to the valley of the Pearl river in Louisiana, 



UMBRELLA TREE. 



37 



and in central Arkansas, reaching its Lest development in northern 
Alabama. 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAltOLINA 

SCALE OF MIlU 



l ^/.-..^'^^^\.L^.^-'^^'°Sr,:^^^f^ ^ \ 




LEGEND 
Distribution of llie UMBRELLA TREE 
(Magnolia tripetala, L.) 

Distribution of the GREAT-LEAVED MAG- 
NOLIA (Magnolia macrophylla, Michx.) 



In North'Carolina, where it attains a height of 15 to 30 feet, it is 
found in Lincoln county and to some extent on the French Broad 
river about Asheville. (Fig. 3.) 

It bears seed in large quantities at frequent intervals. Few years 
pass without some mast. Young seedlings are, however, uncom- 
mon in the dense woods. Young trees sprout vigorously when 
cut. 

The leaves are very large, from 20 to 30 inches long and.9 to 10 
inches broad, and are clustered at the summit of the branches. 
The white fragrant flowers are also large, and the bright rose-col- 
bred fruit is broadly egg-shaped and 2i- to 3 inches long. The 
large winter-buds are covered with thick silky white hairs. There 
are strong lateral and numerous fibrous roots. 

The w^ood.is hard, close-grained, light, and not strong; light 
brown in color ; the thick sapwood light yellow. It has no com- 
mercial value. 

Magnolia tripetala, Linnaeus. 

(uatBRELLA TREE.) 

A small tree, with irregular branches, and smooth, light gray 
bark marked with numerous small blister- like excrescences, reach- 
ing a height of 10 feet and a diameter of 18 inches. 



38 TIMBEE TREES OF NOKTH CAROLINA. 

It occurs along the Appalachians from Pennsylvania to central 
Alabama, and extends in the south Atlantic states nearly to the 
coast, and westward to middle Kentucky, Tennessee and north- 
western Mississippi, and central and southwestern Arkansas. It 
reaches its best development among the Smoky mountains of Ten- 
nessee and North Carolina. 

In North Carolina, where it attains a height of 25 to 35 feet, it 
is found on rich, moist, deep soil throughout the State (fig 3, p. 
37), but is nowhere common. The production of seed is frequent 
and abundant, and seedlings are found wherever a group of mature 
trees occur. It is easily propagated by shoots from the stump. 

The large thin, oblong leaves are clustered at the ends of the 
branchlets. The conspicuous white fiowers, about 5 inches in diam- 
eter, appear in May. The bright rose-colored fruit is egg-shaped, 
3i to 4 inches long. The large purple winter-buds are covered 
with a w^hitish bloom. 

The wood is light, soft, weak, close-grained ; brown in color ; the 
heavier sapwood creamy-white. It has no commercial value. 

Magnolia fraseri, Walter. 

(mountain magnolia. WAHOO. INDIAN BITTERS.) 

A slender tree, with regular and wide-spreading or contorted 
branches, and dark brown, smooth or minutely scaled bark. It 
reaches a height of 40 feet aT}d a diameter of 18 inches. 

It occurs from the mountains of southwestern Virginia to south- 
ern Alabama and western Florida, and westward through east 
Tennessee and northern Mississippi to the valley of the Pearl 
river. It grows in the valleys of mountain streams, and reaches its 
best development on the tributaries of the Savannah river, and on 
the slopes of the Black and Big Smoky mountains. Locally abun- 
dant, it is the least widely distributed of the American magnolias. 

In this State it occurs in all the counties west of the Blue Pidge 
and in the western parts of those immediately east of it. It is 
most common in Ashe, Mitchell, Yancey, Swain, Macon, Transyl- 
vania, and Burke counties. (Fig. 2, p. 34.) 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE II. 




YELLOW POPLAR 



YELLOW POPLAR. 39 

Seed is produced nearly every year and young seedlings are 
abundant in the woods. Cattle are very fond of the young plants. 
Old trees are apt to be hollow at the butt and not uncommonly 
throughout the trunk. 

The large leaves, which are crowded at the end of the branch- 
lets, are smooth, glossy, pointed at the apex and eared at the base. 
When fully expanded the beautiful cream-colored flowers often 
measure 8 or 9 inches across. The bright rose colored fruit is 
oblong, i to 5 inches in length and IJ to 2 inches broad. The 
large winter-buds are purple. 

The wood is light, soft, weak, close-grained ; light brown in 
color; the thick sapwood creamy-white. It has no commercial 
value. 

Liriodendron tulipiftsra, Linnaeus. 

(yellow poplar, tulip tree, whitewood.) 

A large tree of the first commercial value, w^ith a small pyram- 
idal head and brownish-gray bark, reaching a height of 190 and a 
diameter of 10 feet. The trunk is straight and cylindrical, and in 
the largest specimens often free from branches to a height of from 
80 to 100 feet. (Plate 11.) 

It occurs from Rhode Island to southwestern Yermont, west to 
the southern shores of Lake Michigan, and south to northern 
Florida, southern Alabama and Mississippi, and southeastern Mis- 
souri and the adjacent parts of Arkansas; reaching its best devel- 
opment on the tributaries of the Ohio and the lower slopes of the 
high mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. It grows 
habitually in deep, rich, moist soil. Although widely distributed, 
it is seldom the predominant tree in the forest. 

In North Carolina, where it reaches an average height of 60 to 
100, and an average diameter of 3 to 4 feet, it is found in all parts 
of the State. (Fig- -l, p. -10.) In the coastal plain it occurs on 
fertile soil with sweet gum, black gum, swamp chestnut oak, and 
water oak, or on peaty foil with the white cedar (juniper).* 
Throughout this section the trees are apt to be hollow ; there is a 
larger amount of sapwood, and the timber is inferior in quality to 
that in the middle and w^estern sections. In the Piedmont pla- 

*Cliarn8ecj'paris thyoides, L. 



40 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



teau it is found in ravines and on north hillsides, and is largely 
used for cabinetmaking and interior woodwork. It is most abun- 
dant, attains its greatest size, and forms its finest timber on the 




lower mountain slopes in the counties west of the Bine Kidge, 
where trees 8 to 10 feet in diameter and more than 150 feet high 
are occasionally found. Throughout this region it is the chief 
building material. 

Trees growing in the open mature seed in abundance nearly 
every year; forest trees less frequently. Young seedlings are 
common in the woods and grow rapidly if not heavily shaded. 
Cattle eagerly devour young plants.. Although trees over four 
feet in diameter are often hollow at the butt, it is uncommon to 
fi.nd the trunk unsound throughout. The quality of the timber is 
seldom injured by wind shakes. 

The leaves are smooth, bright green, 4 lobed, with a deep 
rounded incision on either side and a broad shallow notch at the 
apex. The greenish-yellow tulip-shaped flowers appear in May, 
and the fruit is a narrow, light brown cone. The dark reddish 
winter buds are covered with a whitish bloom. 

The wood is light, soft, brittle, not strong, close and straight- 
grained, easily worked, and does not split or shrink easily ; yellow 
or brown in color ; the thin sap\yood creamy-white. The yellow 
poplar is one of the most useful, as well as one of the largest, of 
American deciduous trees. It is largely used for construction, inte- 



PAPAW. 41 

rior finish, boat building, shingles, pumips, and woodenware. A 
tonic and stimulant is made from the inner bark of the root. 

Large quantities of poplar have been sawed in the last few 
years in eastern North Carolina and used in the manufacture of 
crates, trucking boxes, etc., but there is still a great deal of tim- 
ber standing in the counties north of the Neuse river. The mer- 
chantable poplar has been cut for the most part in the midland 
counties. It has been estimated that about 500,000,000 feet of 
merchantable yellow poplar is standing in the mountains of west- 
ern North Carolina. This is principally in Ashe, Alleghany, 
Watauga, Mitchell, Yancey, Haywood, Transylvania, Swain, Gra- 
ham, and Macon counties. Asheville is the chief seat of the 
manufacture of poplar lumber ; a iireat deal is manufactured also 
at Dillsboro, Magnetic City, and Cranberry. Between 12,000,000 
and 13,000,000 feet of poplar was sawed for shipment during 1892 
in the counties west of the Blue Bidge, and half as much more for 
local use. 

Asimina triloba, Dunal. 

(PAPAW.) 

A shrub or low tree, with slender spreading branches and dark 
brown bark marked with large ash-colored blotches, sometimes 
reaching a height of 40 and a diameter of 1 foot. 

It occurs from w'estern New York and the northern shores of 
Lake Ontario, southward to central and eastern Pennsylvania, 
westward to southern Michigan, southern Indiana and eastern 
Kansas, and south to middle Florida and eastern Texas. It is 
comparatively rare toward the Atlantic seaboard, but very com- 
mon in the Mississippi valley, reaching its best development along 
the tributaries of the lower Ohio river and the streams of central 
and southern Arkansas, where it grows in deep rich and rather 
moist soil, sometimes to the exclusion of other trees. 

In North Carolina it occurs in all parts of the State, and is most 
abundant in the northeastern and middle sections on somewhat 
swampy or alluvial lands, where it reaches an average height of 
from 10 to 15 feet. It is rare in the sand barrens of the south- 



42 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

eastern part, and altogether wanting in the high mountains. It 
reproduces itself freely. 

The large deciduous leaves are sharp pointed at the apex and 
contracted at the base. The flowers, which are nearly 2 inches 
across, are a dull deep red at maturity. The edible fruit is dark 
brown, almost black, oblong, rounded, 3 to 5 inches long by 1 to 
IJ inches broad, and from 6 to 12 ounces in weight. 

The pointed winter-buds, J of an inch in length, are covered 
with rusty brown hairs. 

The wood is light, soft, weak, coarse-grained, spongy, with the 
annual layers clearly marked ; light yellow in color ; the thin sap- 
wood somewhat lighter. 

Gordonia lasiantbus, Ellis. 
(bay. bull bay. loblolly bay.) 

A medium size tree, with a narrow, compact head, and dark 
red-brown scaly bark, broken into regular shallow furrows and 
parallel rounded ridges. It reaches a height of 75 and a diameter 
of 2 feet ; or is rarely a low shrub. 

It occurs from the southern part of Virginia to southern Flor- 
ida and westward to the valley of tiie Mississippi river. It is 
most common in Georgia and eastern Florida, reaching its best 
development in damp situations. 

In North Carolina it occurs in the coast region, where it reaches 
a height of 50 to 70 feet, and a diameter of 18 to 24 inches. 

It bears some seed nearly every year, and full seed years are 
frequent. Young seedlings are common throughout the range of 
the species. 

The thick dark evergreen leaves are oblong, pointed at the 
apex and narrowly contracted at the base. The fragrant white 
flowers appear late in summer; and the fruit is a woody, egg- 
shaped capsule. The narrowly pointed winter-buds are covered 
with pale silky hairs. 

The wood is light, soft, close-grained, not strong or durable; 



LIN. 



BASSWOOD. 



4a 



light red in color; the tliick sapwood lighter. It is occasionally 
used for cabinetmaking ; and the bark has been locally employed 
in tanning. 

Tilia americana, Linnaeus. 

(baSSWOOD. LIN. LINDEN.) 

A tall tree, with slender, often pendulous branches, and thick, 
furrowed, light brown bark covered with small, thin scales. It 
reaches a height of 130 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs in rich soil from northern New Brunswick to the south- 
ern shore of Lake Winiiipeg, and southward through the Atlantic 
states to Virginia, along the Appalachian mountains to Alabama 
and Georgia, and to eastern Texas. It reaches its best develop- 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 

SCALE 




LEGEND "■■' '-/X 

Area in which the LIN and BASSWOOD 
occur rarely. (Tilia heterophylla, Vetif. 
and T. americana L.) 

Area in which the .LIN and BASSWOOD 
are common. 

Western limits of the distribution of the 
»«'«'' SOUTHERN LIN (Tilia pubescens, Aii.) 



ment along the northern tributaries of the lower Ohio river. One 
of the most common trees of the northern forest, it formerly occu- 
pied exclusively large tracts of the richest land. 

In North Carolina, where it attains a height of 50 to SO and a 
diameter of 1 to 4 feet, it is found more or less widely distributed 
in the mountains and in the upper part of the Piedmont plateau 
along the slopes of mountain spurs and. higher hills, while in 
the lower Piedmont and coastal plain regions it is found sparsely 
distributed as a smaller tree. (Fig- o.) 

Basswood bears seed very abundantly every 2 or 3 years. The 
young growth is eagerly devoured by cattle. Specimens over 2 



44 TIMBER TUBES OF NOETH CAEOLINA. 

feet in diameter are usually hollow at the butt and not uncommonly 
through the entire stem. Stumps of trees which have been cut or 
blown down sprout vigorously. Windfalls are frequent. 

The large thick roundish leaves are sharp-toothed, narrow- 
pointed at the apex, and unevenly heart-shaped at the. base. The 
clusters of small white flowers are borne on an oblong, leaf-like 
bract, and the fruit is egg shaped, about I inch in length and cov- 
ered with short gray wool. The dark red winter-buds are stout, 
egg-shaped, and pointed. The root system is a Met work of strong 
lateral roots. 

The wood is soft, straight-grained, not durable; light brown in 
•color ; the thick sapwood hardly distinguishable. It is largely used 
for lumber, and, under the name of whitewood, in the manufact- 
ure of woodenware and furniture, for carriage-making, and for the 
inner soles of shoes. It is extensively used for paper pulp, and 
occasionally the inner bark is made into coarse cordage and matting. 

In this State it is not sawed into lumber to any considerable 
extent, but large numbers of trees are cut in the winter that cattle 
may feed upon the buds and twigs. It is much prized by apiarists 
because the clearest honey and whitest comb are made from its 
flowers. 

Tilia pubescens, Aiton. 

(southern LIN. LINDEN.) 

A slender tree, with a large oval crown, slender gray branches, 
and rough dark bark, reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of 2 
feet. 

It has been found as far north as Long Island, and it grows in 
cool, moist situations on the coast of North and South Carolina and 
Georgia, in northern Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. It is not a 
common tree. 

In North Carolina, where it reaches a height of 50 to 60 feet, it 
occui's on deep, sandy, fertile soil, usually on the margins of swamps 
or streams, in the coastal plain region. (Fig- 5, p. 43.) In the 
Piedmont plateau region it occurs rarely, if at all. 

A large proportion of the seed, which is borne frequently and 
in abundance, is unproductive, and seedlings are uncommon. It 
sprouts very freely from the stump. 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE III. 




LIN OR BASSWOOD 



LIN. LINDEN. 45 

The leaves are covered beneath with a thin, rusty down. The 
flowers are smaller than in the preceding species, and the dry glo- 
bose fruit is small, pubescent, and nsnally one-seeded. The winter- 
buds, which are covered with a short, fine pubescence, are of a 
dark reddish-brown color. The Southern lin has numerous usually 
deeply seated lateral roots. 

The wood is similar to that of Tilia americana, of which this 
tree has been considered a variety. 

Tilia heterophylla, Ventenat. 

(lin. . LINDEN.) 

A tree, with slender branches forming a pyramidal head, and 
furrowed bark broken into short thin light brown scales, occa- 
sionally reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of 4 feet. (Plate 
III.) 

arrowing in moist soil, often over limestone rock, it occurs from 
Pennsylvania southward along the Appalachians to northern Ala- 
bama and central Florida, and westward to middle Tennessee, 
Kentucky, and southern Indiana and Illinois; and reaches its best 
development on the mountain slopes of eastern Tennessee. It is 
not common. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 40 feet and 
an average diameter of 12 to 18 inches, it is most common in the 
mountains, (fig. 6, p. 43), and occurs sparingly in the Piedmont 
plateau and coastal plain. It is much more abundant in North 
Carolina than Tilia americana, and bears seed more frequently 
and generally in greater quantity. It is readily propagated by 
shoots. Unless protected the low growth is almost immediately 
eaten by cattle. 

The linden borer, Saperda vestita. Say, bores into the sapwood 
of the standing tree. 

The leaves are generally larger than those of Tilia americana, 
and are covered on the lower side with a silvery white down. 
The flowers appear earlier in the spring, and the round fruit, f 
inch in diameter, is covered with short gray down. The egg- 
shaped winter-buds are bright red, covered with a whitish bloom. 



46 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

The wood is soft, li2:lit, straight-drained, not durable; light 
brown in color; the thin sapwood hardly distinguishable. Com- 
mercially it is not distinguished from the wood of Tilia americana. 

Ilex opaca, Alton. 

(holly,) 

A small tree, with short, slender branches, w^hich form a pyra- 
midal head, and roughened light gray bark, reaching a height of 
50 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

At the north it grows in dry gravelly soil ; at the south, in rich, 
moist situations. It occurs from Massachusetts to Florida ; in the 
valley of the Mississippi from southern Indiana to the gulf of 
Mexico; and through Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana to eastern 
Texas. It is common south of the Hudson in fertile bottom lands, 
except in the Appalachian region and just west of it, where it is 
exceedingly rare ; and reaches its best development in southern 
Arkansas and eastern Texas. 

In this State, wdiere it grows to an average height of 30 feet, 
and an average diameter of 12 inches, it is common except in the 
mountains. Specimens growing in the coast region are much 
larger than those found farther inland. 

Fertile trees generally bear seed every year, although not with 
uniform abundance, and young growth is common in open spots. 
Old trees do not sprout from the stump as readily as young ones. 

The oval evergreen leaves are thick, leathery and armed with 
spiny teeth. The flowers are small but conspicuous from their 
number. The round fruit is about i inch in diameter, dull red or 
rarely yellow in color, and remains on the tree during the winter. 
The winter-buds are short, blunt or pointed, the narrow-pointed 
scales slightly hairy on the margins. The holly has a tap-root 
and numerous lateral roots. 

The wood is light, tough, not strong, very close-grained ; nearly 
white in color ; the thick sapwood somewhat lighter. It is easily 
worked, takes a beautiful polish and is much used for cabinet- 
making, interior finish, and turning. 



IRONWOOD. BUCKEYE. 47 

The merchantable holly has been largely cut in the northeast- 
ern counties; trees large enough for commercial use still remain, 
however, scattered through counties on the coast. 

Cyrilla racemiflora, Linnaeus. 

(iRONWOOD. LEATHER WOOD. BOXWOOD.) 

A slender tree, with numerous wide-spreading branches, and 
bright red-brown scaly .bark, reaching a height of 35 feet and a 
diameter of li inches ; or often a broad bush. 

It occurs in various situations from North Carolina southward 
rear the coast to middle Florida, and westward to eastern Texas, 
reaching its best development o"n the coast of the gulf of Mexico. 

In this State it is found usually along streams and swamps from 
Hertford county southward, its western limits passing through 
Halifax, Wake, and Anson counties. 

It usually produces seed very abundantly every second year, 
and young trees and seedlings are common on the borders of 
swamps and pine barren ponds. Trees are frequently hollow 
through the entire stem, even when quite young, generally as the 
result of a broken branch. 

The small thick oblong leaves are partly evergreen in the 
extreme eastern part of the State. The numerous whitish flowers 
appear in slender racemes in the early part of summer, and the very 
small fruit is broadly egg-shaped. The narrow-pointed winter- 
buds are covered with chestnut-brown scales. The roots are lateral 
and superficial. 

The wood is heavy, hard, weak, close-grained ; light brown in 
color; the sapwood a little lighter; and is not used in North 
Carolina. 

Aesculus octandra, Marshall. 

(buckeye. sweet BUCKEYE.) 

A large straight tree, with small, rather pendulous branches 



48 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

and dark brown seal}' bark, reaching a height of 90 and a diam- 
eter of 4 feet, or towards its southern or southwestern limit 
reduced to a low shrub. 

It grows in deep fertile soil from Pennsylvania southward along 
the Alleghanies to northern Georgia and Alabama, and westward 
to southern Iowa and Indian Territory and western Texas, reach- 
ing its greatest development in the Alleghany mountains of Ten- 
nessee and North Carolina. 

In this State it occurs as a tree in the mountains, and in the 
Piedmont plateau, where it is reduced to a mere shrub. 

Trees growing in the open produce seed nearly every year; 
forest trees less frequently. Seedlings are common except in deep 
shade, especially in the Piedmont plateau. Young trees grow 
rapidly if sufficiently exposed to the light. 

The buckeye stem-borers, Steganoptycha claypoleana, Fernald, 
and Proteoteras sesculana, Riley, penetrate the leaf-stems and 
twigs. Trees over 2 feet in diameter, particularly in very damp 
situations, are apt to be hollow or affected with dry rot. 

The leaves are composed of 5 to 7 elliptical, pointed, sharply 
toothed leaflets. The yellowish flowers appear late in spring in 
large erect clusters, and the fruit is 2 or 3 inches long, with the 
reddish-brown seeds Ih to 2 inches broad. The winter-buds are 
large and scaly. 

The wood is light, soft, compact, and difficult to split; creamy- 
white in color; the sapwood hardly distinguishable. Although 
one of the commonest trees in the high mountains, it has but few 
uses; the softness of the wood and the fact that it decays rapidly 
when exposed to the weather or in contact with the soil, excludes 
it from construction. It is sometimes used with linden for ceil- 
ing and other interior work. 

Acer spicatum, Lamarck. 

(mountain maple, swamp dogwood.) 

A small bushy tree, with slender upright branches and reddish- 
brown bark, reaching a height of 30 feet and a diameter of 8 
inches. • * 



STRIPED MAPLE. 49 

It occurs in the shade of other trees, from the valley of the St. 
Lawrence westward to northern Minnesota and the Saskatchewan 
region, and southward to northern Georgia; reaching its best 
development in the mountains of JSTorth Carolina and Tennessee. 

In this State, where it is usually a shrub 6 to 10 feet high, it is 
confined to cold, damp places in the high mountains. It bears 
seed about every third year ; seedlings are not common ; but young 
sprouts are very abundant around old trees, which latter are usually 
hollow. 

The leaves are 3 or rarely 5-lobed, coarsely toothed and downy 
beneath. The greenish-yellow flowers are in erect, slender clus- 
ters. The fruit is bright red in July, turning brown late in the 
autumn, and is rather more than an inch across. The winter-buds 
are sharply pointed. The root system is superficial. 

The wood is light, soft, close grained, compact; light brown in 
color; the sapwood being much lighter. The mountain maple does 
not grow large enough for commercial use. 

Acer pennsylvanicLim, Linnfeus. 
(striped maple, swamp dogwood, deerwood.) 

A small tree, with slender, upright branches, and roughened 
reddish-brown bark. It reaches a height of 40 feet and a diameter 
of 10 inches, but is often much smaller, and shabby in habit. 

It occurs from the valley of the Saguenay river westward to 
northeastern Minnesota, and southward to northern Georgia. It 
is common in the northern Atlantic states, but reaches its best 
development in the mountains of Tennessee and the Carolinas. 

In this State it is confined to the coldest and dampest parts of 
the high mountains. Seed is produced annually or once in two 
years. Small trees are very sensitive to fire, but when burned 
sprout readily from the stump. 

The leaves are large, 3-lobed at the end, and sharply toothed. 
They are much eaten by cattle.. The greenish flowers occur in 
loose, drooping racemes, and the winged fruit is smooth, f inch in 
length. The bright red winter-buds are stalked. 

The wood is light, soft, and close-grained ; light brown in color ; 

4 



•50 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



the thick sapwood of 30 to 40 layers of annual growth, still lighter. 
It is not used in North Carolina. 



Acer barbatum, Michaux.* 

(sugar maple, sugar-tree, eock maple.) 

A large tree of great commercial value, with a broad round top 
when old, and light gray-brown deeply furrowed bark, reaching a 
height of 120 and a diameter of 4 feet. (Plate IV.) 

It grows in rich woods, often forming extensive forests, and is 
most abundant in the mountains. It occurs from southern New- 
foundland to the Lake of the Woods, southward to northern Ala- 
bama and western Florida, and westward to Minnesota, eastern 
Nebraska, Kansas and Texas ; reaching its best development in the 
region of the great lakes. 




It occurs throughout this State, growing to an average height 
of from 50 to 80 feet and a diameter of 2 to 3 feet, but is most com- 
mon in the mountains. It is a small tree in the Piedmont plateau 
and reduced to a mere shrub in the coastal plain region, where it 
is confined to borders of streams and swamps. (Fig- 6.). 

The sugar maple bears seed about every third or fourth year. 
Seedlings are very abundant in the woods, and bear dense shade 
remarkably well ; they spring up quickly in thinned woods, also, 
and where lumbering has been in progress. 

*Acer saccharinum, Wagn. 



K/C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



BXilitETtN 6. PLATE IV. 




SUGAR MAPLE 



SILVER MAPLE. 51 

Glycobins speciosns, Say, a borer destroys the trees by girdling 
them or penetrating the wood, and young specimens are killed by 
a timber beetle, Corthylus punctatissimns, Zimm., which enters 
and mines the stem at or near the surface of the ground. 

The leaves are 3 to 5-lobed, with rounded notches, heart-shaped 
at the base, smooth above, and glaucous beneath The greenish- 
yellow flowers occur in umbel-like clusters, appearing with the 
leaves in the spring. The winged fruit is an inch in length. 
The purple winter-buds are pointed, i inch in length. The sugar 
maple has a tap-root and numerous strong lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, tough, and takes 
a good polish. The heartwood is light brown ; the thin sapwood, 
of 30 or 40 layers of annual growth, somewhat lighter. It is 
more valuable than the wood of any other American maple, and 
is largely used as fuel, for interior finish, furniture, and turnery, 
in sliip-building, for the handles of tools, saddle-trees, shoe-lasts, 
shoe-pegs. Curled and bird's-eye Tnaple are highly prized for 
cabinet work. Maple sugar is produced chiefly from this tree, 
and its ashes make a valuable fertilizer. 

Acer saccharinum, Linnaeus.* 
(silver maple, maple, soft maple.) 

A large tree, with upright main branches and pendulous 
branchlets, and reddish-brown scaly bark, reaching a height of 
12*) and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It grows in rich soil, and is most common west of the Alleghany 
mountains. It occurs from New Brunswick to Ontario, southward 
to western Florida, westward to eastern Dakota, eastern Nebraska, 
the valley of the Blue river, Kansas and the Indian Territory, 
reaching its best development in the basin of the lower Ohio river. 
'In this State, where it is not very common, it occurs in the 
upper part of the Piedmont plateau and in the mountains along 
streams and in cool situations, and attains a height of 30 to 60 
and a diameter of 1 to 2 feet. 

*Acer dasycarpum, Ehrh. 



52 TIMBEK TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA.- 

Yonn^ growth is frequent on moist land, where the forest cover 
is light, and in old fields. It produces seed at irregular intervals, 
and for the most part, not abundantly. Trees under a foot in 
diameter sprout freely from the stump. Very large specimens 
are apt to be hollow. 

The deeply cut 5 lobed leaves are pale green above and silvery 
white beneath. The crowded clusters of greenish-yellow flowers 
appear before the leaves in early spring, and the pale chestnut- 
brown winged fruit is prominently netted- veined, and from IJ to 
3 inches in length. The short thick winter-buds are covered with 
bright red scales. The silver maple has a small tap-root and 
numerous strong lateral roots. 

The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, compact, easily worked, 
and rather brittle ; faintly tinged with brown, with thick sapwood 
composed of 40 to 50 layers of annual growth. It is sometimes 
used for cheap furniture and flooring. Maple sugar is occasion- 
ally made from this tree. 

Acer rubrum, Linnseus. 
(red maple, sw^amp maple, maple.) 

A slender tree, with upright branches and dark gray flaky bark, 
reaching a height of 120 and a dian)eter of 4ri feet. 

It grows in low, moist situations, from Quebec and the Lake of 
the Woods southward to the Indian river, Florida, and w^est to the 
easte!rn parts of Dakota, Nebraska, Indian Territory, and Texas; 
and reaches its best development on the lower Ohio and its trib- 
utaries. 

In this State it occurs in swamps and low grounds, from the 
coast to the mountains, but is most abundant in the coastal plain. 

There is a large production of seed about every second year; 
young trees are always common in damp woods and along streame. 
Old trees sprout from the stump less rapidly than younger ones. 

The leaves are smaller and not so deeply cleft as those of the 
silver maple. The flowers, which appear early in spring, are 
bright scarlet or, less commonly, dull yellowisb-red. The winged 
fruit is scarlet, dark red or brown, J to 1 inch in length ; it ripens 



BOXELDER. 53 

early in summer and sprouts immediately on falling to the ground. 
The short winter-buds are blunt and covered with thick dark red 
scales. The red maple has numerous strong lateral roots. 

The wood is very heavy, close-grained, easily worked, and not 
very strong. It is light brown in color; the thick sapwood, some- 
what, lighter. But little has been cnt in North Carolina. It is 
employed mainly for interior Unish, furniture, gunstocks and 
similar uses. Maple sugar is occasionally made from this species, 
the sap being mixed with that of the sugar jnaple ; and there does 
not appear to be any marked difference betvv^een the sap from the 
two species, except that that from the red maple contains a 
smaller per cent, of sugar. 

Acer negundo, Linnaeus.* 
(boxelder. ashleaf maple.) 

A tree, with a short trunk, and light gray or brown, deeply 
furrowed bark, reaching a height of 70 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It ranges from Yermont to Florida; extending northwest and 
west to Lake Winnipeg, and the eastern slopes of the Rocky moun- 
tains ; and southward to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. It 
grows on the banks of streams and lakes and the borders of swamps, 
reaching its best development in the valleys of the tributaries of 
the lower Ohio river. In good soil it grows rapidly. 

In North Carolina it is rare in the coastal plain region, but 
common in the Piedmont plateau and west to the mountains, 
attaining an average height of 15 to 25 feet. 

The leaves are composed of from 3 to 5 or rarely, sparingly 
toothed leaflets. The yellowish-green flowers occur in drooping 
clusters, usually appearing before the leaves; the sterile and fer- 
tile flowers on separate trees. The winged fruit is 1 J to nearly 2 
inches long, with the thin netted-veined wings diverging at a very 
sharp angle. The winter-bads are covered with pale down; the 
lateral buds blunt, the terminal bud acute. The light, soft, weak, 
close-grained wood is creamy-white, with a thick and hardly 
distinguishable sapwood. It is sometimes used for interior finish, 

* Neguudo aceroides, Moeucli. 



54 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



cheap furniture, woodenware, cooperage and paper pulp. Maple 
sugar is occasionally made from this species. 

Robinia pseudacacia, Linnaeus. 

(locust, black locust, yellow locust.) 

A slender tree, with erect brittle branches forming an oblong 
head, and deeply furrowed dark brown bark. It reaches a height 
of 80 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs from Pennsylvania to Georgia along the Appalachian 
mountains, growing with hickory, black walnut, ash, white oak, 
and the chestnut ; and reaches its best development on the western 
slopes of the mountains in West Virginia. It has been natural- 
ized in most of the states east of the Rocky mountains. 



MAP OF 

NORTH CAKOLINA 



MTKe^^ .. 00AST_AL_PLA1N__REG|0N_ 




LEGEND 

Area in which the YELLOW LOCUST is in- 
digenous (Robinia pseudacacia, Z.) 

Area in which the YELLOW LOCUST has 
been extensively naturalized. 



In this State it occurs on the lower ridges of the mountains, 
and probably for some distance east of the Blue Ridge. (Fig. 7.) 

Forest trees bear seed only once in three or four years. In the 
open the production of seed is more frequent and seedlings, which 
are short-lived in the shade, more common. The locust is readily 
propagated by root suckers, and trees as large as one foot in 
diameter sprout from the stump. The growth is rapid in youth ; 
in mature trees much slower. When cut in the forest^ it is usually 
succeeded by oaks and chestnut. Old trees are apt to be hollow 
at the butt, and frequently in the upper part of the stem, from 
the entrance of water where the brittle limbs have been broken off. 



CLAMMY LOCUST. 55 

A borer, Oyllene robinise, Forster, destroys the value of large 
trees or kills them entirely, and bark beetles often kill the young 
plants. The timber is also attacked by the larvse of Xylesthia 
clemensella, Chamb. 

The leaves consist of from 7 to 19 thin ovate leaflets. The 
white flowers appear in April in large drooping clusters, and the 
bright red-brown fruit is a stout pod 3 to 4 inches long. The 
minute naked winter-buds are inconspicuous. The locust has 
numerous superficial lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, clo:^e-grained, and very durable in 
contact with the soil ; brown or light green in color ; the very thin 
sapwood, of 2 to 3 layers of annual growth, pale yellow. It is 
extensively used in ship building and for treenails, construction, 
posts, and other purposes where durability in contact with the 
ground is desired. It is excellent fuel, and is altogether one of 
the most valuable timbers of the American forest. The bark of 
the root is tonic, purgative, and emetic. 

Large quantities of locust have been cut in Jackson, Macon, 
Swain, and Rutherford counties. 

Robinia viscosa, Ventenat. 
(clammy locust.) 

A small tree, with slender spreading branches and smooth dark 
brown bark, reaching a height of 40 feet and a diameter of 12 
inches. 

It occurs in the high mountains of the Carolinas, and has be- 
come extensively naturalized east of the Mississippi. In this 
State it is found on Buzzard ridge in Macon county, growing as 
a shrub only a few feet high. It has not been seen growing wild 
in any other locality since the time of Michaux. 

The twigs and leaf-stalks are covered with a sticky substance. 
The rose-colored flowers are in short rather compact clusters and 
the fruit is a pod 2 to 3i inches in length. The minute winter- 
buds are covered up in the scars of the leaves of the previous 
season. 



56 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

The wood is heavy, hard, close-grained, and brown in color ; 
the thin sapwood light yellow. 

Cladrastis lutea, Koch. 
(yellow W(^0D. virgilia. chittam.) 

A tree, with branching trunk, wide-spread pendulous branches, 
and smooth silvery gray or light brown bark, reaching a height of 
60 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs in central Kentucky, central Tennessee, on the moun- 
tains of eastern Tennessee and in North Carolina, and is one of 
the rarest and most local trees of eastern North America. It 
grows generally in rich soil, and reaches its best development near 
Nashville, Tenn. 

In this State, where it is found in Swain, Clay, Macon, and 
Cherokee counties, it has an average diameter of 18 inches and a 
height of about 40 feet. 

Large numbers of pods are borne about every second year, but 
they contain many abortive seeds. Seedlings are common near 
old trees, when cattle are excluded. Numerous sprouts come up 
around old trees and about live stumps. 

In Clay county a" large part of the foliage of yellow wood is 
often destroyed in the early fall by the leaf miner insect. 

The leaves are composed of 7 to 11 broadly oval entire leaflets 
placed alternately along the leaf stalks. The white flowers are 
borne in long terminal drooping racemes. The fruit is a pod IJ 
to 4 inches in length. The lustrous brown downy winter-buds 
are in fours, superposed, and crowded together to form a cone. 
The superficial lateral roots are long and very tough. 

The wood is heavy, very hard, strong and close-grained ; bright 
clear yellow in color; the thin sapwood almost white. It takes 
a good polish, is used for fuel and gunstocks, and yields a clear 
yellow dye. 

Gleditschia triacanthos, Linnaeus. 

(honey locust.) 

A large tree, with slender spreading branches and dark rough 
deeply fissured bark, reaching a height of 140 andadiameter of 6feet. 



REDBUD. JUDAS TREE. 57 

It occurs from Pennsylvania westward to eastern Nebraska, 
Kansas, and. Indian Territory, southward to northern Alabama, 
Mississippi, and Texas, reaching its best development in southern 
Indiana and Illinois. It has been naturalized east of the Alle- 
ghany mountains, growing in moist fertile soil, or less commonly 
on dry gravelly hills. 

The honey locust is scarcely known as a forest tree in Noi'tli 
Corolina. Specimens of it, however, are found commonly on farms 
and along fences in the Piedn.ont plateau, and sparingly in the 
other sections. 

It bears some seed every year and a large amount every third 
year. Seedlings, which are frequently found on dry ground under 
old trees, grow very rapidly. Sprouts are common about young 
spe(umens and appear quickly around the stumps of felled trees. 

The leaves consist of numerous small, oblong, rpiiiotely toothed 
leaflets, and are sonietimes doubly pinnate. The inconspicuous 
greenish flowers are in small spikes, and the fruit is a dark brown 
pod, often 10 to 18 inches in length. The minute winter-buds 
occur three or four together. ^'^ery sharp and rigid three-forked 
or simple spines, 3 to 4 inches long, and bright chestnnt-brown in 
color, are very plentiful on some individuals and nearly or quite 
wanting in others. The honey locust hns long superficial roots. 

The wood is hard, strong, coarse-grained, and very durable in 
contact with the ground ; red or bright red brown in color; the 
sap wood, of 10 to 12 layers of annual growth, thin and pale. It 
is largely used for fencing, for the hubs of wheels, and somewhat 
in construction. 

Cercis canadensis, Linnaeus. 

(rEDBUD. JUDAS TREE.) 

A small tree, with a short trunk, bright red-brown furrowed 
bark, and smooth light brown or grsij branches, reaching a height 
of 50 feet and a diameter of 12 inches. 

It is found from New^ Jersey to Florida, Alabama and Missis- 
sippi, Indian Territory, Louisiana and Texas, growing on the bor- 



58 ■ TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

ders of swamps and in rich bottom lands ; and it reaches its best 
development in southern Arkansas, Indian Territory, and eastern 
Texas. 

In North Carolina, where it attains a height of 15 to 25 feet, 
it occurs in the coastal plain and Piedmont plateau regions. 

The dark green glossy leaves are broadly ovate, pointed at the 
apex, and truncate or heart-shaped at the base. The conspicuous 
bright purplish-red flowers are in clusters along the branches, and 
appear before or with the leaves in early spring. The fruit is an 
oblong compressed many-seeded pod, from 2 J to 3 J inches long. 
The winter-buds are blunt and chestnut-brown in color. 

The wood is rather coarse-grained, heavy, hard, and not very 
strong. Its color is a rich dark brown, tinged with red ; the thin 
sapwood lighter. 

Prunus pennsylvanica, Linnaeus. 

(wild red cherry, fire cherry, bird cherry, 
peruvian.) 

A small tree, with slender branches, a narrow head and smooth 
reddish-brown, or in old trees, dark red-brown scaly bark. It 
reaches a height of 30 to 40 i'eet and a diameter of 12 to 18 
inches ; but at its northern and western limits it is a low shrub. 

It occurs from ISTewfoundland to British Columbia, south 
through the northern states to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, 
and Iowa, on the eastern slopes of the Pocky mountains in Col- 
orado, and along the Alleghany mountains of North Carolina and 
Tennessee; and readies its best development on moist, rather rich 
soil, in the Big Smoky mountains of Tennessee. It often takes 
possesifion of groiind which has been cleared by fire. 

In North Carolina it is confined to damp situations on the slopes 
of high mountains, above an elevation of 3,500 feet. (Fig 8, p. 59) 

It bears seed in great abundance, and usually every year. After 
spruce or Carolina balsam, or sometimes beech and maple forests, 
have been burned, a growth of fire cherry often springs up, but 
it is apt to be replaced by the original growth in about forty 
years, which is the average length of life for this tree. 

The oblong, sharply pointed leaves are finely toothed, shining 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE V. 




A GROUP OF WILD CHERRY TREES 



WILD BLACK CHERRY. 



59 



green and smooth on both sides. The white flowers appear late 
in the spring in numerous clusters, and the fruit is small, round 
and bright red. 

The light, soft, close-grained compact wood is light brown in 
color ; the sapwood a clear yellow. 



Prunus serotina, Ehrhardt. 

(wild black cherry.) 

A tree of the first commercial importance, with small horizontal 
branches and dark red-brown scaly bark, reaching a height of lOO 
feet and a diameter of 5 feet. (Plate Y.) 

It occurs from Nova Scotia to Tampa Bay in Florida, and west- 
ward to the Missouri river in Dakota, eastern Nebraska and Kan- 
sas, Indian Territory and Texas, and is found also in southern New 
Mexico and Arizona, and in parts of Mexico, Central and South 
America. It rtaches its best development on the high slopes of 
the Alleghany mountains. It was once common in all the Appa- 
lachian region, growing with the white oak, the white ash, the 
green ash, the sugar maple, the yellow buckeye, the hickories and 
the black birch. 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAKOLINA 



ctr^i^«,.-^^c2^!L^.LL^-:ffS^i 




Area in which the WILD BLACK CHERRY 
occurs as a small tree of little commercial 
importance (Prunus serotina, Ehrh.) 

Area in which the WILD BLACK CHERRY 
occurs as a large tree of the first economic 
importance. 

rjTT??] Distribution of the WILD RED CHERRY 
''•'''•' (Prunus p ennsylva nica, L.) 



In this State, where it attains an average height of 60 to 80 and 
a diameter of 2 to 3 feet, it occurs through all parts of the State^ 
but is less common in the coastal plain, where the soil and climate 
are not so favorable to its growth. It reaches its best dimensions 
on the rich cool slopes of the mountains. (Fig. 8.) 



60 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

Forest trees bear fruit abundantly about every third or fourth 
year; trees growing in the open more frequently. Seedlings are 
■common in moist, rather open situations. In the higher monn- 
tains, where only it grows large enough to be of economic impor- 
tance, trees over three feet in diameter are apt to be hollow or red- 
hearted. Old trees are often shaky. After lumbering, the black 
<}herry is frequently followed by birch, ash, spruce, and maple. 

Clisiocampa americana. Stretch, the tent caterpillar, destroys 
the young trees by denuding them of their foliage. 

The leaves are oblong, smooth, taper-pointed, and finely-serrate 
with short incurved teeth. The flowers appear in late spring in 
long, slender, drooping racemes; and the fruit is bitter, nearly 
black when ripe, and from J to J inch in diameter. The blunt 
oi pointed winter-buds are bright chestnut-brown. 

The wood is light, strong, rather hard, with a close straight 
grain ; light brown or red in color; the thin sapwood, of 10 or 12 
layers of annual growth, yellow. It takes a beautiful polish, and 
no other North American wood is more suitable for cabinet-mak- 
ing and fine interior finish. The largest and best trees in all parts 
■of the country have already been cut. The bark yields tonics and 
sedatives. 

There are only a few bodies of fine trees still standing in west- 
ern North Carolina. They are situated principally in Mitchell, 
Yancey, Swain and Macon counties. 

Auielanchier canadensis, Medicus 

(service TREE. SHAD BUSH. WILD CURRANT.) 

A small tree, with a tall trunk, sms-ll spreading branches, and 
pale red-brown scaly bark, reaching a height of 50 feet and a 
diameter of 18 inches. 

It occurs from Newfoundland along the shores of the Great 
Lakes, southward to northern Florida, and westward to Minnesota, 
eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, Louisiana, and southern Arkan- 
sas ; reaching its best development in the mountains of North 
Carolina and Tennessee. 

In the coastal plain region of North (^arolina it is hardly more 
than a shrub, and is known as wild currant. It reaches its largest 



SWEET GUM. 61 

size on the shaded slopes of the mountains, where it is called 
service tree. 

About every third year this tree bears fruit in large quantities ; 
during intermediate years, sparingly or not at all. Seedlings are 
common in moist and shady woods. 

The leaves are small, finely toothed, acute at the apex and 
rounded or heart-shaped at the base. The white flowers appear 
in drooping racemes in early spring. The sweet edible rounded 
fruit is dark purple when ripe, and from -3- to i inch in diameter. 
The pale chestnut-brown pointed winter-buds, I inch long, are 
covered w4th slightly hairy scales. The service tree has numerous 
superficial lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, exceedingly hard, strong and close-grained ; 
dark brown in color ; the thick sapwood, of 40 to 50 layers of 
annual growth, lighter. It takes a good polish, and is occasionally 
used for the handles of tools. 

In North Carolina the wood has few uses ; large numbers of 
trees, however, are cut every year for the fruit. 

Liquidambar styraciflua, Linnseus. 

(sweet gum. red gum.) 

A large tree, with straight cylindrical trunk, dark deeply fur- 
rowed bark, and branches often winged with corky ridges. It 
reaches a height of 140 and a diameter of 5 to 6 feet. 

It occurs from Connecticut to Missouri, south to Central 
Florida and westward, through Arkansas and Indian Territory, 
to Texas, reaching its best development in the bottom lands of the 
Mississippi basin. It is common in low wet situations. 

In this State, where it attains an average height of about 60 
and an avera2:e diameter of 2 to 3 feet, it is common in moist situ- 
ations from the coast to the mountains. (Fig. 9, p. 62.) West of 
the Blue Kidge it is sometimes found south of the French Broad 
river. It is in the coastal plain that it attains its largest dimen- 
sions, growing frequently in deep swamps with the black gum and 
cypress, to a diameter of 5 or 6 feet and height of one hundred 
feet. 



02 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



Sweet gmn bears fruit annually or every other year, but much 
of the seed is abortive. Youno; seedlings are common on damp 
hillsides and bottom lands that have been cleared, they are also 




LEGEND 
I Area m which the SWEET OUM attains 

largest size and is most abundant 
' (Liquidambar styraciflua, L.) 



^Aroa in which th.> SWEET GUM is less 
=3 abundant and reaches a smaller size. 



frequent in damp pine woods, where, however, they seldom develop 
into large trees. Af:er sweet gam has been cut a thick growth 
of the same species usually springs up together with yellow pop- 
lar, white oak and maple. The largest specimens are frequently 
hollow at the butt. ^This tree sprouts freely from the stump. 

The smooth shining leaves are deeply 5 to T-cleft with sharp 
pointed finely toothed divisions. The inconspicuous flowers occur 
in early spring.. The fruit is a long-stalked, globular, dry, rough 
head, hanging on the tree through the winter. The acute ovate 
winter-bnds are dark brown in color. 

The sweet gum has a very large and long tap-root, as well as 
long superficial roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, not strong, rather tough, close-grained, 
and liable to warp and shrink ; bright brown in color ; the sap- 
wood nearly white. It takes a good polish and is used for floor- 
ing, clapboards, cabinet work, veneering, barrels, and street 
paving. The balsamic exudation is sometimes employed in cases 
of catarrh and as an ointment. 

Only an inconsiderable quantity has been sawed in the State, 



DOGWOOD. BLACK GUM. 63 

but it is now being largely used for the manufacture of crates 
baskets, veneering, barrels, etc. 

Cornus florida, Linna-us. 
(dogwood, flowering dogwood, boxwood.) 

A small tree, with flattened spreading top and rough blackish 
bark, reaching a height of 40 feet and a diameter of 18 inches. 

It is common in rich woods from southern Kew England west to 
southern Ontario, and south to Florida and eastern Texas. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 12 to 20 
feet, it occurs throughout. In the coastal plain it forms a lower 
story under the long-leaf pine. In the Piedmont plateau and 
mountain region it grows under oaks, hickories and yellow poplar. 

Dogwood generally bears fruit abundantly every year, and 
young seedlings are common in open woods, and in mixed coppice 
woods on moist soil. AVhen once started it bears a deep shade. 
The acute ovate leaves are opposite and often somewhat clustered 
toward the ends of the branchlets. The flowfers occur in a head 
surrounded by 4 white bracts, which make the cluster appear like 
a single large flower, and the bright red oval fruit grows in 
bunches. The awl-shaped leaf-buds, as well as the twigs, are pur- 
plish and covered with a whitish bloom. The rounded flattened 
grayish-brown flower-buds replace the terminal buds on the 
fertile branches. The dogwood has numerous long lateral roots. 

The wood is hard, heavy, strong, close-grained, and tough ; brown 
in color ; the sapwood lighter. It takes a beautiful polish, and is 
extensively used for turnery, wood engraving, the bearings of 
machinery, the hubs of wheels, barrel hoops, shuttles, spindles, 
etc. The bark yields a tonic. 

Large quantities have been cut in the eastern and central sec- 
tions of the State, along the railroads, and manufactured into 
spindle, shuttle, and shoe-last blocks, but the supply has by no 
means been exhausted. 

Nyssa sylvatica, Marshall. 
(black gum. sour gum.) 
A large tree, with horizontal branches and short spur-like lateral 



64 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



braiichlets, reaching a height of 100 and a diameter of 5 feet. 
The bark' is deeply cut, liglit brown, often tinged with red, or, as 
in some large specimens in the coastal plain region of this State, 
scaly or nearly smooth, dark brown or black. 

It occurs from Maine and Yermont to central Michigan, and 
southward to Tamj^a bay, Florida, and the Brazos river, Texas. 

In North Carolina, where it has an average height of 50 to 60 
feet and an average diameter of about 2 feet, it occurs in the 
swamps and wet lands of the coastal plain and Piedmont plateau, 




and in the mountains up to an elevation of 3,000 feet, along dry 
ridges with red and white' oaks and chestnut. In the eastern 
sections, with the sweet gum and water ash, it forms a large part 
of the growth of the deeper swamps, and there reaches its largest 
size within the State. (Fig. 10.) 

It produces seed plentifully once in two or three years, and 
young seedlings appear in moist open woods and on cypress lands 
after lumbering. Large trees are apt to be hollow at the butt and 
frequently through the whole stem. The black gum sprouts 
readily from the stump. 

The rather thick shining leaves are oblong, pointed and 
usually entire. The greenish flowers, which appear after the 
leaves in spring, are inconspicuous, and the bluish-black oval 
fruit is about J-inch long. The dark brown conical buds are 
slightly thicker than the smooth flexible twigs. The black gum 
has deeply seated lateral and numerous superficial roots. 



TUPELO GUM. 65 

The wood is heavy, strong, soft, very tough, and hard to split 
and vs^ork, inclined to check, and not durable in contact with the 
soil ; light yellow or nearly white in color ; the thick sapwood 
lighter, often hardly distinguishable. It is used for the hubs of 
wheels, rollers in glass factories, ox yokes, and piles. 

Yery little has been cut in tliis State for lumber. In the last 
few years, however, it has been coming into use as a cheap mate- 
rial for boxes and trucking barrels. 

Nyssa aquatica, Marshall. 
(tupelo gum.) 

A large tree, with dark brown, deeply farrowed, or, in old speci- 
mens, scaly, smoothish bark, reaching a height of 100 and a 
diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs from southern Virginia to Georgia, through the Gulf 
states to Texas, and through Arkansas and southern Missouri to 
Illinois; reaching its best development in the cypress swamps of 
western Louisiana and southeastern Texas. 

In this State it is confined to the deep swamps of the coastal 
plain, where it grows with cypress, water ash and black gum, 
attaining a height of 80 and a diameter of 4 feet above the 
trumpet-shaped base. (Fig. 10, p. 61.) 

Seed years are frequent. Young trees are common along moist? 
deep swamps, in open woods, and iu spots where the cypress has" 
been removed. The large swollen butt, S to 15 feet in diameter, 
is usually hollow, and there is frequently also a hollow in the top 
of the stem, where a branch has been broken ofi". The middle of 
•the trunk is nearly always sound. 

The leaves are larger than in the preceding species, dark green 
and smooth above and somewhat downy below. The yellowish- 
green flowers appear in March and April. The oblong fruit is 
dark purple and an inch or more in length. The smooth light 
brown terminal buds are nearly round, the lateral buds minute. 
The twigs are slightly angular, light brown and smooth, and much 
thicker than those of the black gum. There are numerous lateral 
and superficial roots. 

5 



66 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, close-grained, compact, 
uuwedgeable,and light brown or nearly white in color. It is used 
for turning, woodenware, broomhandles, and wooden shoes. The 
roots are sometimes used as a substitute for cork for net floats. 
The wood has only a few local uses in North Carolina. 

Oxydendron arboreum, De Candolle. 

(SOURWOOD. SORREL TREE.) 

A small tree, with pendulous branches and deeply furrowed 
gray-brown bark, reaching a height of 60 feet and a diameter of 20 
inches. 

It grows usually in rather dry soil, and occurs from western 
Pennsylvania along the Alleghany mountains to western Florida 
and Mobile bay, westward to middle Tennessee, and through the 
northern portions of the Gulf states to western Louisiana. It 
attains its best development in eastern Tennessee. 

In North Carolina, where it reaches a height of 50 to 60 feet 
and a diameter of 12 to 15 inches, it is rare (and usually a shrub) 
in the coastal plain, not uncommon in the Piedmont plateau, and 
most abundant in the lower parts of the mountains. It reaches 
its largest size on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge. 

The sourwood bears seed prolifically and for the most part 
every year. Young seedlings are usually very abundant, espe- 
cially in rather dry woods which have been thinned. Sprouts 
grow readily from the stump, but do not attain a very large size. 
Trees over 10 inches in diameter are usually hollow. 

The small rounded fruit is in large loose clusters. The oblong 
pointed leaves are acid, whence the name. The flowers and fruil? 
occur in loose drooping panicles, 7 to 8 inches long. The red win- 
ter-buds are very small, and the flexible twigs are mahogany-red 
in color. The sourwood has numerous lateral roots. This tree 
is especially prized on account of the delicious transparent honey 
made from the flowers. 

The wood is heavy, hard, very close-grained, compact, brown 
in color; the sapwood somewhat lighter. It takes a beautiful 



LA.UREL. IVY. 67 

polish, and is used for the handles of tools, bearings of machin- 
ery, etc. 

Kalmia latifolia, Linnaeus. 

(laurel, ivy. wicky.) 

A small evergreen tree, with short crooked branches, and dark 
reddish-brown furrowed bark, the narrow ridges separating into 
long scales. It reaches a height of 40 feet and a diameter of 20 
inches. 

It occurs in rich woodlands from New Brunswick and Lake 
Erie to western Florida, and through the Gulf states to western 
Louisiana and the valley of the "Red river, Arkansas ; reaching its 
best development in the southern Alleghany mountains, where it 
often forms dense impenetrable thickets. 

In this State, where it grows to an average height of 10 to 15 
feet, it is most abundant in the mountains, but occurs in the Pied- 
mont plateau, and extends into the coastal plain region. 

The laurel bears seed every year, and for the most part in 
abundance. Young seedlings, in all stages of growth, are com- 
mon in moist open places in the mountain region, and above 3,000 
feet on rather dry soil. The fires which are frequent on these dry 
ridges are very destructive to both young and old plants, but the 
laurel sprouts so freely from the stump that it often takes exclu- 
sive possession of areas subject to repeated fires. 

The evergreen leaves are thick, smooth, entire, acute at the 
apex and contracted at the base. The white or pink fiowers are 
produced in conspicuous clusters at the ends of the branches, and 
the rounded fruit set with sticky hairs is ripe in September. The 
winter-buds are small, oblong, and greenish. The roots consist of 
many large knots and burls, from which strong lateral roots 
diverge. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, brittle, close-grained, and com- 
pact, brown in color; the sapwood somewhat lighter, and the 
broad medullary rays darker. It takes a good polish, and is used 
for the handles of tools, in turnery, and for fuel. The leaves, 
from which an ointment is made, are supposed to be poisonous to 
cattle. The root-burls, sometimes called ivy grubs, are used in 



68 TIMBER TEEES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

turnery. Large quantities are taken out at Cranberry, Elk Park, 
and many other places in the mountain counties. 

Rhododendron maximum, Linnaeus. 
(rhododendron, laurel.) 

A small tree, with spreading top and grayish-brown scaly bark, 
reaching a height of 40 feet and a diameter rarely exceeding 
twelve inches; or more frequently a tall straggling shrub. 

It occurs from Nova Scotia and Lake Erie south through ISTew 
England, New York, and along the Alleghanies to northern 
Georgia ; reaching its best development on the steep rocky banks 
of streams in the southern Alleghany mountains. It is never 
found on limestone soils. 

In North Carolina, where it grows to an average height of 8 to 
12 feet, it is very common in the mountains, often forming 
impenetrable thickets, and occurs in ravines in the Piedmont 
counties as far east as Surry and Gaston. 

Rhododendron usually produces seed every year, and young 
seedlings are common in moist open spots. Numerous sprouts 
appear around old trunks and around the stumps after cutting. 
Several stems generally grow from the same burly roots. 

The thick leathery evergreen leaves are acute at the apex and 
narrowed toward the base. The flowers are pale rose-color or 
white, dotted with yellowish-green spots, and are produced in 
large compact clusters at the ends of the branchlets. The dark 
red-brown fruit is a dry capsule, half an inch long, and encloses 
many seeds. The buds are large, scaly and conical. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, brittle, close-grained, com- 
pact, light clear brown -in color; the sapwood lighter. It is 
occasionally employed in turnery, for tool handles, etc. A decoc- 
tion of the leaves is used for rheumatism, sciatica, etc. 

Diospyros virginiana, Linnaeus. 
(persimmon.) 

A small tree, with slender branches forming a rounded top and 
rough, dark brown, gray or black bark, reaching a height of 115 
and a diameter of 2 feet. 



PERSIMMON. 



69 



It occurs commonly in old fields from southern Connecticut to 
southern Ohio and southeastern Iowa, south to Bay Biscayne, 
Florida, southern Alabama and Mississippi, and west to southern 
Missouri, Arkansas, eastern Kansas and Indian Territory, and 
the valley of the Colorado river, Texas ; and reaches its best 
development in the lower Ohio basin. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 30 to 40 
feet and an average diameter of 18 to 20 inches, it is found 
throughout, except in Ashe, Watauga, Mitchell, and Yancey 
counties and in the higher mountains. (Fig. 11.) 




MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 'i^ 



LEGEND 

Distribution of the PERSBIMON 

(Diospyros virginiana, Z.) 



Fertile trees bear fruit in abnndance annually or every second 
year. Seedlings are common near the old trees in damp soil, and 
in old fields when protected from fire. Young plants are short- 
lived in deep shade. 

The rather thick smooth shining leaves are oval, dark green 
above, pale and often downy below. The yellowish flowers are 
small and inconspicuous, the male and female usually produced 
on separate trees. The edible fruit is rounded, about one inch in 
diameter, and orange-red when ripe. The winter-buds are small, 
egg-shaped and pointed. The persimmon has thick fleshy black 
stoloniferous roots ; it has a taproot as well as numerous long 
lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, very close-grained, compact; 
the heartwood, seen only in very old specimens, dark brown to 
nearly black in color ;- the thick sapwood lighter brown with dark 
spots. It takes a good polish, and is used for shoe-lasts, plane 



70 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

stocks, shuttles, large screws, mallets and the shafts of wagons. A 
decoction for diarrhoea, hemorrhage, etc., is made from the fruit, 
from which persimmon beer is also produced. 

Large quantities have been cut in North Carolina near the rail- 
roads. 

Mohrodendron carolinum, Britton.* 

(snowdrop tree, silverbell tree.) 

A tree of medium or small size, with reddish-brown, broadly 
ridged bark, and bright biown smooth branches striped with pale 
shallow longitudinal fissures, sometimes reaching a height of 90 
and a diameter of 3 feet. 

It occurs commonly in rich soil along streams from the moun- 
tains of West Yirginia to southern Illinois, southward to middle 
Florida, central Alabama and Mississippi, and^through Arkansas 
to western Louisiana and eastern Texas; reaching its best devel- 
opment in the southern Alleghany mountains. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 15 to 25 
feet, it is found in the Piedmont plateau as far east as Surry and 
Mecklenburg, and thence westward it is not uncommon, especially 
along the upper portions of the water courses. 

The silverbell tree produces seed every tw^o or three years 
and young plants are common in damp shady woods. Specimens 
over one foot in diameter are apt to be hollow. 

The thin leaves are finely serrate, light green above, pale, 
and slightly downy below. The flowers, which appear with 
the leaves in spring, are white, bell-shaped, and are borne by 
slender drooping stems. The large dry fruit, about IJ inches 
long, has four wings and contains a bony nut. The hairy winter- 
buds are small, obtuse, and dark red or light brown. 

The wood is light, soft, close-grained, compact, light brown 
in color; the sapwood lighter. It has no uses in North Carolina. 

Praxinus americana, LinnEeus. 
(white ash.) 
A large tree of the first commercial value, with stout, apright 

*Halesia tetraptera, Linnajus. 



N. C GEOLOGICAL StTRVEY, 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE VI. 




WHITE ASH 



WHITE ASH. 



71 



or spreading branches and grayish furrowed bark, reacliing a 
height of 120 and a diameter of 6 feet. (Plate VI.) 

It grows in low, rather moist soil, from Nova Scotia to northern 
Minnesota, southward to .northern Florida, central Alabama and 
Mississippi, and west to eastern Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Terri- 
tory, and eastern Texas ; reaching its best development in the 
basin of the Ohio river. 

In North Carolina, where it grows to an average height of 
50 to 80 and a diameter of 2 to 3 feet, it occurs throughout the 
Stale. (Fig. 12.) 



MAP OF 

NOKTH CAROLINA 

SCALE 



COASTAL PLAIN REGION _ 




LEGEND 

Distribution of the WHITE ASH 
(Fraxinus -americana, L.) 



0=0=0=0 Western limits of the WATER ASH 
(Fraxinus caroliniana, Mill.') 



The white ash produces seed abundantly about every 3 or 
4 years, though individual trees along streams, or when isolated, 
bear more frequently. The young seedlings, which are not com- 
mon, stand shade well, and are usually found in moist situations, 
often at a considerable distance from the parent tree. Large 
trees are usually sound, but somstimes have large heart-cracks. 
In the mountains a mixed growth of oaks, lin, and buckeye 
replace the white ash after lumbering. The timber is attacked 
while still standing, especially when growing in swamps, by 
Fatua denudata, Harris, the ash sesia. 

The leaves are composed of 5 to 9, usually 7, stalked leaflets. 
The inconspicuous flowers appear before the leaves in spring, Hhe 
male and female on separate trees, and the narrow-winged fruit 
is IJ to 2 inches long. The rust-colored winter-buds are. covered 



72 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

with short hairs. The ash has numerous deep-seated lateral 
roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, tough, becom- 
ing brittle with age ; the heartwood brown ; the sapwood nearly 
white. It is extensively used for agricultural implements, wagon- 
making, handles, oars, cabinet and interior work, and by ship- 
wrights, turners, and coopers. 

Large quantities have been sawed in the mountains of this 
State, chiefly for lumber and furniture. Asheville, Dlllsboro, and 
Elk Park are important centres for the manufacture of ash lum- 
ber. In 1892 about 8,000,000 feet was sawed in the mountain 
counties and shipped mainly to Cincinnati and Philadelphia. 
About as ranch more was manufactured during the same year in 
other parts of the State. A large amount of white ash is still 
standing in the mountain region and in some of the river 
swamps of the eastern counties. 

Praxinus pennsyvanica, Marshall. 
(red ash. ash.) 

A tree of medium size, with stout, upright branches and 
slightly furrowed dark gray or deep |brown bark, reaching a 
height of 60 feet and a diameter of 20 inches. 

It occurs in rich moist ground from jSTew Brunswick to south- 
ern Ontario and northern Minnesota, and southward to northern 
Florida and central Alabama; attaining its best development in 
the northern Atlantic states. It is rare west of the Alleghany 
mountains. 

In this State, where it grows to a height of 50 to 60 feet, it is 
confined to the Piedmont plateau. 

The red ash produces seed about as often as the white ash, 
but seedlings are less common and confined principally to the 
neighborhood of water courses. Numerous sprouts spring up 
after cutting, but do not develop into large trees. Birch, white 
oak and red maple usually form the growth after lumbering. 

The leaflets are 7 to 9 in number, obscurely toothed, narrowed 
at the apex into long, slender points, lustrous on the upper sur- 



GKBEN ASH. WATER ASH. 73 

face, and downy beneath ; the leafstalks also covered with a silky 
down. The male and female flowers appear on separate trees 
late in spring, and the narro^N- winged fruit is like that of the 
white ash, except that the end of the wing is usually more 
rounded. The dark, russet-brown rounded winter-bud is downy. 
The red ash has numerous lateral and superficial roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, brittle, close-grained and com- 
pact, rich brown in color ; tlie sapwood light brown streaked with 
yellow. It is used for paper pulp and for the same purposes as 
that of the white ash, to wdiich it is inferior. 

Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. lanceolata, S.irgent. 
(gkeen ash. ash.) 

A tree of medium size, with slender, spreading branches and 
gray or dark brown bark, rarely exceeding 60 feet in height and 
24. inches in diameter. 

It occurs in low, rather moist soil, from Vermont to northern 
Florida, w^estward to the valley of the Saskatchewan river and 
the Rocky mountains of Montana, th^ Wasatch mountains of 
Utah and the eastern and northern ranges of Arizona. It is most 
abundant in the Mississippi basin. 

It is not a common tree in North Carolina, and is confined to 
the upper part of the coastal plain and to the Piedmont plateau, 
where it reaches a height of 60 and a diameter of 2 feet. 

The leaflets are smooth and ])right green on both sides, and 
narrower, shorter, and often more sharply toothed than those of 
the red ash. In the West the species and variety are connected 
by many intermediate forms. East of the Mississippi river the 
trees are quite distinct. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, brittle, rather coarse-grained; 
brown in color; the thick sapwood lighter. It is inferior in 
quality to the wood of the white ash, but in this State is not dis- 
tinguished from it commercially. 

Fraxinus caroliniana, Milkr. 
(water ash.) 
A small tree, with slender branches which form a narrow top, 






74 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

and light gray furrowed bark, reaching a height of 40 feet and a 
diameter of 12 inches. 

It occurs in deep river swamps from southeastern Virginia near 
the coast to Florida, westward through the Gulf states to the 
valley of the Sabine river, Texas, and southwestern Arkansas. It 
is also found in Cuba, 

In North Carolina, where it reaches an average height of 30 to 
40 feet, it is confined to the deep swamps of the coastal plain 
region. (Fig. 12, p. 71.) 

It bears seed abundantly every year or two. Trees in deep 
swamps have swollen butts w^iich are usually hollow, but as a 
general rule the upper part of the stem is sound. 

The leaves are composed of from 5 to 7 larsre, long-stalked leaf- 
lets. The male and tpmale flowers appear in February and 
March upon separate trees. In the fruit the wings extend to the 
bottom of the seed, and are sometimes three in number. The 
winter-buds are chestnut-brown in color. The water ash has 
numerous deeply seated lateral roots. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, close-grained, and 
compact ; the heartwood nearly white, sometimes tinged with yel- 
low ; the sapwood lighter. It is of less value than that of many 
of the other ashes. 

In the eastern section of North Carolina it is largely manufac- 
tured into lumber. The best logs are usually sawed into furni- 
ture squares. 

Persea borbonia, Spiengtl. 

(red bay. sweet bay.) 

An evergreen tree, with dark brown-green branches and deeply 
furrowed reddish bark, reaching a lieight of 70 and a diameter of 
3 feet. 

It occurs in low rich soil from southern Delaware south to Bay 
Biscayne and Cape Romano, Florida, and through the Gulf states 
to southern Arkansas and the valley of the Brazos river, Texas, 
near the coast. 



SASSAFKAS. 75 

In this State it is a small tree or shrub, and occurs in the coastal 
plain region. Old trees over 8 inches in diameter are frequently 
hollow. 

The oblong entire evergreen leaves are 2 to 3 inches long and, 
like the twigs, have an aromatic odor when bruised. The flowers 
are small and in close panicles, and the fruit is an ovate 1-seeded 
deep blue drupe. The small dark brown winter-buds and dark 
twigs are downy. The red bay has a lateral root system. 

The wood is heavy, hard, very strong, brittle, very close-grained, 
and compact; bright red in color; the sapwood much lighter. It 
takes a beautiful polisJi, and was formerly somewhat used in ship- 
building, interior finish and cabinet work. 

Sassafras sassafras, Karsten. 

(SASSAFRAS.) 

A large tree, with green or yellowish-green branchlets and fur- 
rowed gray bark. It sometimes reaches a height of 90 and a diam- 
eter of 7 feet, but is reduced to a shrub at its northern limit. 

It occurs from eastern Massachusetts and southwestern Ver- 
mont, west through southern Ontario and central Michigan, to 
southeastern Iowa, eastern Kansas, and Indian Territory, and 
south to middle Florida and the valley of the Brazos river, Texas ;. 
reaching its best development in southwestern Arkansas and 
Indian Territory. 

In this State, where it rarely exceeds 40 to 50 feet in height, it 
is most common in the coastal plain and Piedmont plateau regions, 
and rare on the higher slopes of the mountains. 

Seed is produced at frequent intervals, and young seedlings are 
common in old fields when protected from fire. Sprouts spring 
readily from the stumps of young trees and from the spreading 
roots, and in many cases become large trees. 

The leaves are very variable, being ovate and entire, or 2 to 
3-lobed. The greenish-yellow clustered flowers appear in early 
spring, the sterile and fertile on separate trees, and the oval fruit 
is blue in color, with a thick reddish stem. The egg-shaped win- 
ter-buds are large. 



76 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



The wood is light, soft, weak, brittle and coarse-grained, very 
durable in contact with the soil, and apt to check in drying. It 
is slightly aromatic. The heart wood is dull orange-brown in color; 
the thin sapwood light yellow. It is used in boat building, fenc- 
ing, cooperage, and for ox yokes. An aromatic stimulant is 
derived from the bark of the root. 



Ulmus americana, Linnaeus. 

(AMERICAN ELM.) 

A large tree, with short spreading or long pendulous branches 
^nd scaly dark brown trunk, reaching a height of 120 and a diam- 
eter of 11 feet. 

It occurs in rich moist 'soil from southern Newfoundland to 
the northern shores of Lake Superior and the eastern slope of the 
Rocky mountains, south to Florida, and west to Dakota, central 
-Nebraska, Indian Territory, and Texas ; reaching its best develop- 
ment in the northeastern United States, 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 60 to 70 and 
diameter of 4 to 5 feet, it occurs abundantly in most of the swamps 




Distribution of the AMERICAN 
(Ulmus americana, L^ 



-of the coastal plain and extends westward as far as Guilford 
and Mecklenburg counties. (Fig. 13.) It is smaller and much 
less common toward its western limit. 



. WINGED ELM. 7T 

Seed is borne generally every year in abundance, and young 
plants are common in damp open places. The American elm does 
not sprout readily from the stump. 

A larva of a longicorn beetle, Saperda tridentata, Oliver, loosens 
the inner bark and channels the surface of the wood so as fre- 
quently to kill the tree. The American elm also suffers severely 
from canker-worms, Paleacrita vernata. Peck, and Eugenia sub- 
signaria, Huebner, and the imported elm-leaf beetle, Galeruca 
scanthoraelsena, Schrank, all of which feed upon and destroy the 
foliage. 

The leaves are usually smaller and less rough than those of the 
slippery elm. The small greenish-brown flowers are in numerous, 
lateral clusters and appear early iti spring. The flattened oval 
winged fruit is hairy on the margin, and ripens and falls before 
the leaves appear. The buds are smooth, rather small and 
acute. The American elm has long, well developed lateral 
roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough, rather coarse-grained,, 
compact, and difficult to split ; the heartwood light brown ; the 
sapwood lighter. It is used for wheel stocks, saddle-trees, flooring,, 
and cooperage, and is exported for boat and ship-building. 

In ISIorth Carolina the wood of this tree is not much used, and 
very little of it has ever been cut. 

Ulmus alata, Michaux. 
(winged elm. wahoo. cork elm. southern elm.) 

A small tree, with slender branches and close finely ridged 
light brown bark, reaching a height of 50 and a diameter of 2 
feet. 

It occurs on dry gravelly or often on moist soil from southern 
Yirginia, through the middle districts to western Florida, south- 
ern Indiana and Illinois, south to the Gulf coast, and southwest 
through southern Missouri, Arkansas, and the eastern portion of 
Indian Territory and Texas ; reaching its best development in 
southern Missouri and Arkansas. 



78 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



• In this State, where it reaches an average height of 30 to 45 
feet, it grows along swamps and streams, and is nowhere uncommon 
except on the mountains. (Fig. 14.) 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAKOLINA 




LEGEND 

Distribution of the WINGED ELM 

(Ulmus alata, Mickx.) 



The winged elm bears seed abundantly at intervals of 2 or 3 
years, and young plants are frequent along streams or swamp 
land. 

The leaves are smaller than those of the American elm and the 
brown twigs more slender. The small clustered flowers are on 
slender foot-stalks, and the oval winged fruit is deeply notched, 
and hairy on the margin. There are numerous long superficial 
lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, not strong, very close-grained, com- 
pact, nnwedgeable ; brown in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is 
used for hubs, blocks, and tool handles. 

Ulmus fulva, Michaux. 

(slippery elm.) 

A tree, with deeply furrowed dark brown bark and dark gray- 
brown branches which form a broom-shaped crown, reaching a 
height of 135 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs, in rich soil from the valley of the lower St. Lawrence 
river to northern Dakota, and south to northern Florida, central 
Alabama and Mississippi, and the valley of the San Antonio river, 
Texas. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 30 to 50 



BED MULBERKY. 79 

feet and a diameter of 12 to 18 inches, it is most plentiful in the 
Piedmont plateau, less so among the mountains, and is found 
occasionally in the coastal plain region. 

The slippery elm produces seed at rather irregular intervals of 
2 to 4 years, and for the most part not abundantly. Young seed- 
lings are rare except in damp, somewhat shaded places near the 
parent tree. 

The thick ovate oblong coarsely toothed leaves are very rough 
on the upper surface and downy beneath. The flowers occur in 
lateral clusters on short foot-stalks, and the flat-winged fruit is 
round, but not fringed. The rounded reddish-brown winter-buds 
are hairy. The slippery elm has numerous deeply seated lateral 
roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, very close-grained, compact, 
and durable in contact with the soil. The heartwood is dark 
brown or red ; the sapwocd lighter. It is used for wheel-stock, 
fencing, railroad ties, sills, and in shipbuilding. The muci- 
laginous inner bark is medicinal. 

Morus rubra, Linna?us. 
(red mulberry.) 

A tree, with dark brown, much-broken bark and smooth gray 
branches, reaching a height of 65 and a diameter of 7 feet. 

It is found generally in rich soil from western Massachusetts 
and Long Island, N. Y., through southern Ontario, central 
Michigan, and the Black Hills of Dakota, eastern Nebraska and 
Kansas, south to southern Florida, and the valley of the Colorado 
river, Texas ; reaching its best development in the basins of the 
lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers. 

In this State, where it grows to an average height of 30 to 50 
and an average diameter of 1 to 2 feet, it is found throughout, 
being most abundant on the Piedmont plateau and very rare in the 
mountain region. 



80 TIMBER TKEES OE NORTH CAROLINA. 

The red mulberry bears large quantities of seed every year or 
every other year, and seedlings are found on moist soil through 
the forests of the Piedmont plateau region. Numerous sprouts 
come up after cutting. 

The broad, heart-shaped, pointed leaves are rough above and 
downy below. The flowers are inconspicuous, and the deep red 
or purple fruit is sweet and edible, with an agreeable, slightly 
acid taste. The winter-buds are large, reddish, smooth and 
conical. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, rather tough, coarse-grained, 
compact, very durable in contact with the soil, light orange- 
yellow in color ; the sapwood lighter. 

It takes a good polish, and is largely used for fencing, 
cooperage, snaths, and, at the South, for ship and boatbuilding. 
The leaves have been used for feeding silkworms, but are not well 
adapted for that purpose. 

Celtis occidentalis, Linnaeus. 
(hackberry.) 

A large tree, with bark often much roughened by small ridges, 
and fiexuous, smooth, brown branches. It reaches a height of 130 
and a diameter of 5 feet, or sometimes is reduced to a low shrub. 

It occurs in rich bottoms or on dry hillsides from the valley of 
the St. Lawrence river west to eastern Dakota, south through the 
Atlantic region to southern Florida, and to Texas ; being most 
abundant and reaching its best development in the basin of the 
Mississippi river. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 50 to 70 
feet and a diameter of 18 to 20 inches, it is found throughout, 
except in the high mountain counties, as Ashe, Watauga, Mitchell, 
and Yancey, and attains its greatest size and abundance in the 
alluvial swamps of the coastal plain. 

It bears seed plentifully and as a rule every year. Seedlings 
are common near old trees and along river bottoms. 

The leaves are ovate, toothed, taper-pointed, and smooth at 
maturity. The greenish flowers are inconspicuous, and the 



HACKBERRY. SYCAMORE. 81 

rounded, pnrplish-red fruit, from i to 3 inch in diameter, is sweet 
and edible. 

The wood is heavy, rather soft, not strons-, coarse-grained, com- 
pact, clear light yellow in color; the sapwood, lighter. It takes 
a good polish, and is largely used for fencing, and occasionally in 
the manufacture of cheap furniture. 

Platanus occidentalis, Linna?us. 
(sycamore, button wood.) 

A large tree, with deep brown smooth bark, scaling off in thin, 
brittle plates, leaving the tree a mottled polished white, or with 
bark uniform and rough. It reaches a height of 130 and a diam- 
eter of nearly 1-1 feet. 

It occurs in ricii moist soil, generally near streams, from south- 
ern Maine and the northern shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie 
west to eastern Nebraska and Kansas, south to northern Florida, 
central Alabama, Mississippi, and southern Texas ; reaching its 
best development in the bottom lands of the Ohio and Mississippi 
rivers. It is a very common tree. 

In this State, where it reaches a height of 90 and a diameter of 
5 or 6 feet, it occurs throughout, growing to its best size along the 
alluvial swamps of the Piedmont plateau. It is least abundant 
on the coastal plain. 

The sycamore bears fruit in abundance and usually every year, 
and seedlings are common along streanis. Old trees are gener- 
ally hollow at the bntt. It sprouts very freely from the stump, 
and is easily propagated from cuttings. The growth is very 
rapid. 

The large broad leaves are angularly lobed and toothed, downy 
when young, and smooth at maturity. The male and female 
flowers occur in separate small spherical heads with slender stems. 
The fruit is a globular head one inch in diameter, hanging on the 
tree through the winter. The short, broad, pyramidal buds are 
formed beneath the swollen base of the leafstalks. The sycamore 
has numerous long running roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, not strong, very close-grained, com- 
6 



"82 TIMBER TEEES OF NOETH CAEOLINA. 

ipact, difficult to split and work; brown in color; the sapw^ood 
llighter. It decays rapidly in contact with the soil or on exposure, 
and w^arps and cracks badly in drying. It is used for ox ybkes, 
butchers' blocks, for interior finish, and in the manufacture of fur- 
niture, and very largely for tobacco boxes. 

Juglans cinerea, Linnseus. 
(m'hite walnut, butternut.) 

A large tree, witli dark granite-gray furrowed bark and light 
gray smoothish branches, reaching a heiglit of 115 and a diameter 
of 3 feet. 

It occurs ill rich woodlands, from southern New Brunswick, 
the valley of the St. Lawrence river and Ontario, to Dakota and 
Nebraska, southward to Delaware, Missouri, and Arkansas, and 
along the Alleghany mountains to Georgia and Alabama ; reaching 
its best development in the basin of the Ohio river. 

In North Carolina it occurs thi'ough tlie mountains and spar- 
ingly 'through the upper. part of the Piedmont plateau, but i"s 
nowhere common. In certain cool, rich mountain valleys it 
attains a height of 70 and a diameter of 3 feet. (Fig. 15, p. S3.) 

The white walnut bears fruit abundantly only every 2 or 3 
years, and young seedlings are uncommon. Young trees sprout 
freely from the stump; old ones less readily. 

The lealiets are 11 to 17 in number on the sticky leafstem, 
rounded at the base, taper-pointed, sharply toothed, and downy 
on the lower surface. Tlie sterile ilowers are in large green cat- 
kins, the fertile flowers small and iiicons{)icuous. The brown 
fruit is 2 to 8 inches long, very sticky, and contains an edible 
nut. The naked winter-buds are light brown, blunt, and covered 
with soft down ; the terminal buds large and conspicuous, the 
lateral buds much smaller, two or three together above each leaf- 
scar. There are numerous strong superficial lateral roots, while 
the taproot in specimens over 10 inches in diameter is poorly 
developed. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, compact, and 
easily worked ; light brown in color ; the sapwood, lighter. It 



BLACK WALNL^T. 



83 



takes a beautiful polish, receives paint well, and is used for 
interior finish, cabinet work, panels of carriages, and occasionally 
for the lower framework of buildings. The inner l)ark yields a 
yellow dye, and is employed as a mild cathartic. 

Juglans nigra, Linnaeus. 
(black walnut.) 

A large tree, of the first commercial value, with a small oval 
crown and rough very dark brown bark, reaching a height of 150 
and a diameter of 10 feet or more. 

It occurs from western Massachusetts to eastern Nebraska and 
Kansas, and south to northern Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and 
the valley of the San Antonio river in Texas; reaching its best 
development in the rich bottom lands of southwestern Arkansas 
and Indian Territory, and on the western slopes of the southern 
Alleghany mountains. 




^__ LEGEND 

p= Distribution of the BLACK WALNUT 

I (Juglans nigra, i.) 

.;>".-;:; Distribution of the WHITE WALNU 
.'"'""' (Juglans cinerea, Z.) 



In this State, where it grows to an average height of 40 to 50 
feet, it is most abundant on the Piedmont plateau, but is found 
throughout. (Fig. 15.) 

Forest trees bear seed abundantly only every 3 or 4 years, and 
young seedlings are not common except near mature trees in low 
fertile rather open lands or in fields and meadows which border 
streams. The growth is very rapid until a large size is reached. 



84 TIMBER TREKS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

especially when the soil is good and the light conditions favorable. 
Only small trees send up from the stump shoots, which attain a 
large size. 

The leafstalk is slightly downy but not sticky ; the leaflets 15 
to 23 in number, smooth above and somewhat downy beneath. 
The fruit is round, greenish-yellow when ripe, about 2 inches in 
diameter, and contains a nut with an edible kernel. The large 
terminal buds are covered with a light brown tomentum and the 
lateral buds are above tlie leaf scars as in the preceding species. 
The black walnut has a well-developed taproot and numerous 
strong lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, rather coarse-grained, liable to 
check, easily worked, and durable in contact with the soil ; rich 
dark brown in color ; the thin sapwood much lighter. It takes a 
beautiful polish, and is used for cabinet making, interior finish, 
gunstocks, and in boat and shipbuilding. The husk of the fruit 
yields a dye. 

The black walnut has been largely removed from the counties 
west of the Blue Ridge, where it reaches its largest size in this 
State. Considerable quantities are still standing, however, in the 
Piedmont region, and in the coastal plain region it has not yet 
been entirely removed. 

Hicoria minima, Britton.* 
(bitternut hickory, red-heart hickory.) 

A tall and slender tree, with a broadly pyramidal crown, rather 
smooth, firm, gray bark, and lighter smoother branches, reaching a 
height of 120 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs from southern Maine to the valley of the St. Law- 
rence river, westward through Ontario, central Michigan and 
Minnesota, and the eastern parts of Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian 
Territory, and southward to western Florida and eastern Texas; 
reaching its best development in Pennsylvania and Ohio. 

In North Carolina it grows to an average height of 80 and a 
diameter of 2 to 3 feet, and occurs in moist, cool situations, on 

*Carya aniara, NuttaU. 



WATER HICKORY. SHAGOBARK HICKORY. 85 

loamy or clay soils in all parts of the State, but is abundant only 
in the mountains, where it is tiie largest and most common 
hickory. 

The fruit is borne plentifully at short intervals, and seedlings 
are frequent in the mountains, especially in moist open woods. 

The leaves consist of 5 to 9 small, narrow, acute, smoothish 
leaflets. The dark green fruit is rounded or slightly egg-shaped, 
with a very thin husk, opening half way down when ripe. The 
shell of the white, smooth nut is so thin that it can be broken with 
the fingers. The kernel is intensely bitter. The yellow winter- 
buds are small, elongated, and slightly rounded or pointed. 

The wood is heavy, very hard, strong, and tough, and checks 
bad4y in drying ; dark brown in color ; the sapwood lighter, or 
often nearly white. The wood is inferior to that of the other 
hickories, but is used for hoops, ox yokes and fuel. 

Hicoria aquatica, Britton. 

(WATER-BITTERNUT HICKORY. WATER HICKORY. 
SWAMP HICKORY.) 

A tree, with rough, somewhat furrowed bark, reaching a height 
of 100 and a diameter of 3 feet, or generally much smaller. 

It occurs from Virginia through the coast region to Florida, 
along the Gulf shore to Texas, and northward to southern Illinois ; 
reaching its best development on the lower Mississippi and Yazoo 
rivers. 

In this State, where it is confined to the coastal plain, it grows to 
an average height of 40 to 50 teet. (Fig. 16, p. 86.) 

Young seedlings are uncommon in this State, and are found 
only on alluvium, and then usually in spots where trees have been 
cut. 

There are 7 to 13 smooth, pointed, slightly toothed leaflets. 
The fruit is roundish, with a thin husk 4-parted to the base. The 
thin-shelled, 4:-angled nut contains a very bitter kernel. The flat- 
tened winter-buds are covered with a rusty down. The water- 
bitternut hickory has a poorly developed taproot and numerous 
stronsT lateral roots. 



86 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



The wood is heavy, soft, strong, rather brittle, very close- 
grained, and compact ; the heartwood, dark brown ; the sapwood 
lighter, often nearly white. The timber is of an inferior quality, 
and is chiefly used for fencing and fuel. It is rare in North Caro- 
lina, an.d, from the difficulty in getting it out of the swamps, it is 
little used. 

Hicoria ovata, Britton. 

(shag-bark hickory, shell-bark hickory, 
scaly-bark hickory.) 

A large tree uf great commercial value, with pendulous branches, 
and grayish-brown bark separating from the trunk in long strips. 
It reaches a height of 150 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs on rich hillsides and on sandy ridges from the valley 
of the St. Lawrence river to Michigan and southeastern Min- 
nesota, southward to western Florida, central Alabama and 
Mississippi, and westward to eastern Kansas, Indian Ter- 
ritory, and eastern Texas; reaching its best development west of 
the Alleghany mountains. A common tree. 




LEGEND 

Distribution of the SHAG-BARK HICKORY 

(Hicoria ovata, Briit.) 

py| Distribution of the WATER-BITTEENUT 
HICKORY (Hicoria aquatica, ^rt«.) 



In this State, where it attains an average height of 60 to SO 
feet and an average diameter of 15 to 20 in.jhes, it occurs 
throughout but is nowhere comn^on, and least so in the coastal 
plain region. (Fig. 16.) 

* Carya alba, Nuttall. 



WHITE HICKORY. 87' 

Seed is borne frequently and in larc^e quantities, but seedlings 
are not common except in tbe Piedmont plateau, and young trees- 
are infrequent in second-growtb woods. 

The leaves are large and composed of 5 to 7-pointed, rather 
coarsely toothed leaflets, the lower pair small and narrow, the 
upper pair and terminal leaflet very large, broad and inversely 
egg-shaped. The barren flowers are in slender, pendulous, green 
tassels, three on a common stalk. The minute fertile flowers are 
in groups of 2 to 4 together on the ends of the shoots. The thick 
husk of the nearly globular fruit separates into four distinct pieces, 
and the nut is white, sweet, edible, and 4-angled. The large, 
yellowish-brown, scaly buds are egg-shaped. 

The shag-bark hickory has numerous lateral roots and a strong 
taproot which is developed in early youth. 

The wood is heavy, very hard and strong, tough, close-grained, 
compact, and flexible; light brown in color; the thin and more 
valuable sapwood nearly white. It is largely used for agricultural 
implements, carriages, axe and tool handles, baskets and fuel. 

Hicoria alba, Britton.* 

(W^HITE HICKORY. BIG-BUD HICKORY. MOCKERNUT.j 

A tree, with dark ashen-gray, deeply furrowed bark, reaching 
a height of 108 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs from southern Ontario to the eastern parts of Nebraska, 
Kansas, and Indian Territory, southward to central Florida and 
the valley of the Brazos river, Texas. It grows on rich hillsides 
or in low river bottoms, and is very common in the Gulf states 
and throughout the South. 

In North Carolina, where it grows to an average height of 60 
feet and a diameter of 18 to 20 inches, it is common throughout 
the State. (Fig. 17, p. 88.) 

The white hickory bears fruit frequently and in abundance. 
Seedlings are common near old trees and in second-growth 
woods, and often in dry or moist uplands a considerable part 
of the forest is composed of young trees of this species. Yuong 

*Carya tomentosa, NuttaU. 



88 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

trees, when cut down or killed by fire, send up numerous sprouts 
from the stump. Late spring frosts are very injurious to this 
species, frequently checking the growth of the new twigs and at 
times killing the tree. 

The leaves are very large and consist of 7 to 9 leaflets, the lower 
surface of which, as well as the recent shoots and leafstems, are 
downy when young. The fruit is oval, nearly round or slightly 
pear-shaped, and IJ to 2 inches or more in length. The husk 
splits nearly to the base when ripe. The thick -shelled, somewhat 
6-angled nut contains a small and unusually sweet kernel. The 
winter-buds are large, round, and covered with downy, hard, 
grayish-white scales. 

The wood is heavy, very hard, strong, tough, very close-grained, 
and flexible, and checks in drying. The heartwood is rich dark 
brown ; the thick sapwood nearly white. It is used for the same 
purposes as the wood of the shag-bark hickory. (Page 86.) 

Hicoria glabra, Britton. 
(pignut.) 

A large tree, with an oval head and firm, close, rough, gray 
bark on the trunk, and smoother, lighter bark on the branches. 
It reaches a heii>;ht of 130 and a diameter of 5 feet. 




It occurs on dry liills and uplands from southern Maine to 
southern Ontario, southern Michigan, Minnesota, the eastern parts 



jsr. C. GEOLOGICAL StTRVfeY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE Vlt. 




WHITE OAK 



PIGNUT WHITE OAK. 89 

of Nebraska, and Indian Territory, and sonih to western Florida 
and southern Texas ; reacliinsj its best development in the lower 
Ohio basin. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 70 to 80 
feet, it is found throughout. It is not a common tree in the mount- 
ains, and is rare in the coastal plain region ; but along with the 
white hickory it is fairly abundant in the Piedmont plateau 
region. (Fig. 17, p 88.) 

The pignut bears fruit frequently and in large quantities, and 
young growth is common near tlie parent trees and through sec- 
ond-growth w^oods. 

The leaves are long, with 5 to 7 smooth leaflets. The smooth, 
tapering twigs are smaller than in the two preceding species. The 
fruit is pear-shaped or rounded, with very thin husks splitting 
about halfway to the base. The rather thin-shelled nut, about J 
inch in diameter, contains a small sweetish or slightly bitter ker- 
nel. The polishei brown wnnter-burls are egg-shaped and pointed 
or rounded It has numerous lateral roots and a taproot which 
is developed early in the life of the tree. 

The wood is heavy, hard, vei-y strong, and tough, flexible and 
close-grained, and checks ii-i drying ; dark or light brown in color ; 
the thick sapwood lighter, often nearly white. Its uses are the 
same as those of the shag-l)ark hickory, to the wood of which 
species for some purposes it is preferred. 

' . Quercus alba, Linnaeus. 

(white oak.) 

A large tree, of great economic value, with large spreading 
branches and a bark which is either light gray, slightly rough- 
ened, and in the older trees, loosens in large tiiin scales, or is gray, 
firm, and deeply furrowed. It reaches a height of 150 and a diam- 
eter of 8 feet. (Plate YII.) 

It occurs on all soils from northern Maine to the valley of the 
St. Lawrence, westward through lower Michigan to southeastern 
Minnesota, and southward to St. John's river and Tampa bay, 
Florida, and the valley of the Brazos river, Texas ; reaching its 



90- 



TIMBER TKKES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



best develojDment on the slopes of the Alleghany mountains, and 
in the valley of the Ohio river and its tributaries. It is a com- 
mon tree in a considerable portion of the central and eastern 
states. 




In North Carolina, where it attains an average height of 70 to 
80 and an average diameter of 4 to 5 feet, it occurs throughout, 
and is common everywhere except in the northeastern part of the 
State and on the sandy soils of the southeastern section. It is 
most plentiful on the Piedmont plateau. (Fig. 18.) 

Large quantities of seed are produced about once in three 
years. The acorns germinate in all kinds of soil and frequently 
seed up old fields. Young seedlings are common in all situations, 
and bear well either the deep shade of the old tree or full expos- 
ure to the sun. Young white oaks are apt to form a large part 
of the new growth after the removal of the yellow poplar, short- 
leaf pine or the white oak itself. In many parts of the original 
forest, on poor soil, white oak is the predominant tree, and it 
generally forms a large part of second growth of mixed hard- 
woods. Small trees sprout freely and vigorously from the stump. 
Individuals o"ver 3 inches in diameter are not easily killed by fire. 
Large trees are rarely hollow. Though a large number of insects 
live on the white oak, it is not seriously injured by borers or 
insects which attack the leaves or twigs. A weavil frequently 
destroys the acorns. 

The leaves are acute at the base, with T to 9 blunt, rouii<1ed, 
usually entire lobes. The male flowers are in long slender threads. 



POST OAK. 91 

the female very minute. The acorns, usually in pairs, have rounded 
saucer-shaped, rough, warty "cups, and brown, sweet, edible nuts. 
The small blunt winter-buds are smooth, as are the liglit brown 
or gray slender, twigs. The white oak has a taproot and numer- 
ous deeply seated lateral roots. 

The wood is strong, very heavy, hard, tough, close-grained, 
liable to check, and very durable in contact with the soil : brown 
in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is used for shipbuilding, con- 
struction, cooperage, carriages, agricultural implements, railway 
ties, fencing, interior finish, cabinet-making, baskets, fuel, etc. 
It is altogether one of the most important timbers of the United 
States. 

In North Carolina it is largely used for fuel, clapboards, fenc- 
ing, ties, and staves. It has been manufactured into lumber for 
local uses only. Large quantities of merchantable timber still 
stand in the mountain counties and in many of the counties of 
the Piedmont plateau. The bark is used extensively for tanning, 
but is less highly valued than that of the chestnut oak. 

Quercus minor, Sargent. 
(post oak.) 

A tree, wdth rough hard gray bark, and numerous spreading 
branches, reaching a height of 100 and a diameter of 5 feet ; or on 
the Florida coast reduced to a low shrub. 

It occurs generally in poor soil from Massachusetts south to 
northern Florida, and west through southern Ontario and Michi- 
gan to eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territory, and into 
central Texas, and is very common in the Gulf states west of the 
Mississippi. 

In this State, where it grows to a height of 50 and a diameter of 
4 feet, it occurs in greatest numbers and attains its largest size in 
the Piedmont counties. Here it forms with the white oak a large 
part of the second-growth in the forest and in old fields. It is 
not common in the transmontane counties. In the eastern 
section it frequently forms, on the margins of swamps, a lower 
story beneath the willow and water oaks. (Fiff. ID, p. !>2.) 

The post oak bears fruit abundantly e/ery "2 or 3 years, and 



«2 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



young plants are common in thinned and second-growth woods, 
bearing well both deep shade and ' strong light. It does not 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 



COASTAL PLAIN REGION _ 




LEGEND 

Distribution of the POST OAK 

(Quercus minor, Saro-.) 



sprout as freely as white oak. Although in favorable situations 
the growth is rapid, in general it grows more slowly than the 
white oak. 

The leaves are stiff, leathery, rough above, whitish and downy 
below, and divided into 5 to 7 roundish ■ divergent lobes, the 
upper lobe large and often double. The acorns, borne on short 
foot-stalks, are small and sweet, and seated in deep, grayish, 
smooth-scaled cups. The winter-buds are small, rounded, smooth, 
and dark brownish-red. 

The wood is heavy, hard, close-grained, compact, checks badly 
in drying, and is very durable in contact with the soil; dark or 
light brown in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is used for construc- 
tion, cooperage, shipbuilding, fencing, railroad ties, /uel, and 
occasionally for carriage stock. Large quantities have been cut in 
the Piedmont section for staves, and it is extensively used 
throughout the middle and eastern counties for posts, ties, etc. 

Quercus lyrata, Walter. 

(OVERCUP OAK. SWAMP POST OAK.) 

A large tree, with rough flaky gray bark, and smooth gray 
small often pendulous branches, reaching a height of 100 and a 
diameter of 3 feet. 

It occurs in wet soil, from Maryland southward near the coast. 



ROCK CHESTNUT OAK. 



95 



to western Florida, westward through Alabama, Mississippi, and 
Louisiana, to the valley of the Trinity river, Texas, and through 
Arkansas and southeastern Missouri to middle Tennessee, south- 
ern Indiana, and Illinois ; reaching its best development in the 
valley of the Red river and adjacent portions of x\.rkansas and 
Texas. It is rare in the Atlantic states. 

In North Carolina it occurs on the oak flats of the coastal plain, 
and in the alluvial swamps of the rivers as far inland as Anson, 
Orange, and Nash counties. (Fig. 20.) 

The overcup oak bears acorns plentifully at intervals of 3 or -i 
years, but young seedlings are infrequent. The fruit is devoured 
by swine, and the young plants are destroyed by browsing cattle. 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 



COASTAL PLAIN REGION 




LEGEND 

Distribution of the OVERCUP OAK 

(Quercus lyrata, IVa//. 



The leaves are oblong, crowded at the ends of the branchlets, 
and 7 to 9-lobed, the divisions acute or blunt, entire or somewhat 
toothed. The large subglobose acorn is nearly covered b}- the 
scaly, thin, rugged, fringed cup. The light chestnut-brown winter- 
buds are small and egg-shaped. The overcup oak has a tap-root 
and many rather deeply seated lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained, and 
inclined to check, and very durable in contact with the soil; rich 
dark brown in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is used for the same 
purposes as that of the white oak. Yery little of this timber has- 
ever been cut. 

Quercus prinus, Linnaeus. 

(rock chestnut oak. chestnut oak. buck oak.) 
A large tree, with deeply furrowed dark gray bark, and a 



94; TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

broadly oval crown, reaching a height of 100 and a diameter 
of 4 feet. 

It occurs from southern Maine to the shores of Lake Champlain, 
Quinte bay, Ontario, and the valley of the Genesee river, New- 
York, south to Delaware, and through the Appalachian mountain 
region to northern Alabama, extending westward to central Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee. 

In North Carolina it is found on dry soil and on the tops of 
ridges westward from Franklin and Montgomery counties. It 
reaches its best development on the slopes of the lower mountains 
at an elevation of 2,000 to 4,000 feet, where with other oaks and 
the chestnut it constitutes a large part of the forest. Above 4,000 
feet it grows on the driest and rockiest ridges, often forming 
extensive groves of pure forest. In the Piedmont plateau region a 
smaller form is found, which seldom reaches a diameter of one foot. 
(Fig. 21, p. 95.) 

The rock chestnut oak bears acorns very plentifully nearly every 
year, or in the deep woods every seco!id _year. Young trees in all 
stages of growth are common in open woods on dry rocky mount- 
•ains or in abandoned fields. In Lincoln and Union counties the 
chestnut oak forms a considerable part of the regrowth after the 
removal of mixed hardwoods and the short-leaf pine. Only the 
smaller trees sprout from the stump. Many of the large speci- 
mens growing upon dry soil are hollow at the butt as a result of 
frequent fires. Borers often penetrate the lower parts of the 
stems of small trees which occur on dry ground, but trees in damp 
situations are nearly always sound. 

The leaves are upon short stems, usually broadest toward the 
extremity, and with 6 to 13 large rounded teeth on each side. 
The acorns are large and oval, with thick, warty cups. The large 
blant winter-buds and the twigs are smooth. The numerous, 
branching roots penetrate deeply into the soil. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, rather tough, close-grained, 
durable in contact with the soil, and inclined to check in drying; 
dark brown in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is largely used for 
fencing, railroad ties, and fuel. The bark is rich in tannin. 



SWAMP CHESTNUT OAK. 



95 



A lar^e amount of bark is peeled in Buncombe, Burke, McDow- 
ell, and Wilkes counties to supply local tanneries, and much timber 
has been cut in Lincoln county for charcoal. Large quantities of 
chestnut oak still remain, however, in all the western counties. 



Quercus michauxii, Nuttall. 

(basket OAK. cow OAK. SWAMP WHITE OA K. SWAMP CHESTNUT OA K.) 

A large tree, of great economic value, with gray rather scaly 
bark and stout branches, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter 
of 7 feet. 

It occurs from Delaware, south through the lower and middle 
districts to northern Florida, thence through the Gulf states to 
the valley of the Trinity river, Texas, and through Arkansas to 
southeastern Missouri, to central Tennessee and Kentucky, and 
the valley of the lower Wabash river ; reaching its best develop- 
ment on the rich bottom lands in southeastern Arkansas and 
Louisiana. It is common in the Gulf states. 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 



COAST AU PLAIN REGION _ 




LEGEND 

Economic distribution of the ROCK CHEST- 
NUT OAK 

(Quercus prinus, i.) 

Distribution of the BASKET or SWAMP- 
CHESTNUT OAK 

luercus michauxii, A'«//.) 



In this State (fig. 2L) it is found in swamps of the coastal plain 
and Piedmont plateau regions, and on the bottom lands of the 
Cape Fear and Eeuse rivers, attains a height of 100 and a diame- 
ter of 6 feet. 

Abundant production of seed occurs at intervals of 2 to 3 years. 
Seedlings are common in wet open spots on damp hill sides in the 



96 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

Piedmont plateau region. Sprouts grow readily from the stnmp, 
but seldom reach a large size. 

The leaves are rather rigid, downy beneath, and with large reg- 
ular, rounded teeth. The large sweet edible acorns are set in 
shallow cups which are roughened with acute coarse scales. The 
brown winter-buds are large, smooth, and pointed. There are 
many deep lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, very strong, tough, close-grainedy 
compact, easily split, and very durable in contact with the soil ; 
light brow^n in color ; the sapwood darker. It is used for agricult- 
ural implements, cooperage, wheel stock, baskets, fencing, fuel, 
and construction. In the eastern counties a small quantity of the 
timber has been cut for local uses. 

Quercus virginiana, Miller.* 

(live oak.) 

A large evergreen tree, with dark, deeply furrowed bark and 
gray branches, a short body and a flat or spreading top, reaching 
a height of 60 and a diameter of 7 feet; in the interior of Texas 
often reduced to a shrub. (Plate VIII.) 

It is found near the coast from Virginia to southern Florida 
and along the Gulf coast to Mexico, extending through western 
Texas and the valley of the Ked river, the Apache and the Gaud- 
alupe mountains, and into Mexico, at elevations of six to eight 
thousand feet, and in the island of Costa Pica; reaching its best 
development in the south Atlantic states. 

In North Carolina it occurs near the coast on deep sandy soil 
with the water and willow oaks, American olive, and southern lin. 
North of Cape Hatteras it is a rare tree but south of that point it 
becomes more abundant until, at the mouth of the Cape Fear river, 
it forms with the palmetto a considerable part of the maritime 
forest of Smith's island. (Fig. 22, p. 97.) 

The growth, particularly in youth, is very vigorous. Young 
seedlings are common near old trees. Small trees sprout readily 
from the stump. 

The evergreen leaves are thick, leathery, oblong and obtuse, 

*Quercus virens, Alton. 



g o 

w J3 



- > 

o > 

o i! 

-n O 

O 2 




N. c. Geological srTBVEY. 



StJLLETIN 6. PLATE IX. 




RED OAK 



RED OAK. 



97 



smooth above, and hairy beneath. The fruit, which is borne 
upon a lon^ stem, is an oblong, dark brown, or black acorn set in 
a top-shaped, downy cup. The roots are spreading and rather 
deeply seated, and can bear sea water, at least if covered only 
dnring high tide. 

The wood is very heavy, hard, strong, tough, close grained, 
compact ; it takes a beantiful polish, but is difficult to work ; light 
brown or yellow in color ; the sapwood nearly white. It is used 
for shipbuilding, and the bark is occasionally employed for tan- 
ning. It is not abundant enough in North Carolina to be of com- 
mercial importance. 

Quercus rubra, Linnaeus. 

(ked oak.) 

A laro;e tree, with dark brown furrowed bark, nearly black on 
large trunks, and rather smooth branches which form a large 
oval or round head, reaching a height of 150 and a diameter of 
7 feet. (Pla'te IX.) 

It occurs from Nova Scotia, southern New Brunswick, and 
eastern Minnesota, w^estern Iowa, eastern Kansas and Indian 
Territory south to northern Florida, southern Alabama and 
Mississippi, and western Texas, reaching its best development 
north of the Ohio river. A common tree. 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 




LEGEND 
Distribution of the RED OAK 
),uercus rubra, Z.) 



Distribution of the LIVE OAK 
(Quercus virginiana, Mill.) 



In the coastal plain region of North Carolina it is rare ; somewhat 
more common in the Piedmont plateau on shady hillsides and 

7 



98 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

moist land ; and most abundant in the mountains where it is 
frequently 130 feet high and 6 or 7 feet in diameter. (Fig. 22.) 
At high elevations it is often found wath the chestnut oak on dry 
ridges, and there attains an average height of 60 to 70 feet. In 
the Piedmont plateau it is often confounded with the black oak. 

It bears acorns plentifully about every second year, though two 
seed years in succession are not unusual. Young seedlings are 
common in the woods and endure heavy shade well, but need a 
light cover for rapid growth. Young trees are very sensitive to 
fire. Only small specimens sprout well from the stump. After 
lumbering the regrowth usually consists of the same species mixed 
with chestnut oak, scarlet oak, white oak, and chestnut. 

The tliin, glossy leaves are oblong, wedge-shaped at the base, 
and usually dilated toward the end, with 5 or 6 lobes on each side 
separated by rouiided, ratlier shallow notches. The thick, oblong, 
broad-based acorn is dark brown and seated in a shallow small- 
scaled cup which is either short-stalked or sessile. The ovate 
pointed winter-buds are dark brown and smooth. .The tap-root 
develops early in life, and after tiie plant is well started a system 
of large lateral roots is formed. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, and inclined 
to check: light brown or red in color; the sapwood somewhat 
darker. It is used for clapboards, cooperage, interior finish, and 
the manufacture of furniture. The bark is occasionally used for 
tanning. Large quantities have been cut in North Carolina for 
local use, but a great amount is still standing in the western 
counties. 

Quercus texana, Buckley. 

(TEXAS RED OAK. SWAMP RED OAK.) 

A large tree, with a narrow pyramidal crown, shallow-furrowed 
striped gray and black or mottled bark, and smooth gray branches, 
reaching a height of nearly 200 feet and a diameter of 4 to 8 
feet. 

It occurs from Iowa south to Texas and east to the eastern 
part of Virginia and central Georgia; reaching its greatest devel- 
opment on the alluvial lands of the lower Mississippi river. It 
grows to a greater height than any other American oak. 



SCARLET OAK. SrOTTED OAK. SPANISH OAK. RED OAK. 



99 



In North Carolina, where it attains an average height of 50 to 
70 feet, it is locally found from Lincoln county eastward to Person 
county, growing on the rich, moist loams of river swamps or on 




f!E£-"l?AL^^*^^?^-:<^' ^°*^L^"Z"*- -"- 






' L..^.._.. - 
LEGEND 
Distribution of the TURKEY or FORK- 
LEAVED BLACK-JACK OAK 
(Quercus catesbaei, A/icAx.) 

jSf^ Known distribution of the TEXAS RED 
OAK (Quercus texana, Bud.) 




damp hillsides, associated with the yellow oak, swamp white oak, 
red and willow oaks, and elms. (Fig. 23.) 

Throughout North Carolina it reproduces itself slowly, and 
3^oung seedlings are rarely found in the forest, although it flowers 
regularly and matures fruit every two or three years. 

The small thin light green leaves, deeply lobed on the sides, 
are smooth on both surfaces, except for large tufts of brownish 
hairs beneath in the axils of the primary veins. The leaf-stem is 
nearly as long as the leaf. The oblong or cylindrous acorn is 
borne in a shallow cup, which like the acorn, is generally smooth. 
The long acute sharply angled winter-buds are smooth, as are 
the steel-gray twigs. The strong lateral roots lie near the surface. 

The wood, heavier and stronger than that of the northern red 
oak, is coarse-grained and porous, reddish-brown in color; the thick 
sapwood light brown. It is superior in working qualities to that 
of the northern red oak or any other of the American red and 
black oaks. In North Carolina, on account of the infrequent 
occurrence of the tree, the wood is put to no specific uses. 



Quercus coccinea, Muenchhauseu. 

(scarlet oak. spotted oak. SPANISH OAK. RED OAk). 

A slender tree, wdth a short trunk, smooth dark gray or black 



100 



TIMBER TREES OE ]VORTH CAROLINA. 



finely ridged bark, and smooth gray branches which form an oval 
top, reaching a height of 175 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs from Maine to Ontario, Minnesota, and JSTebraska, and 
south to iSTortli Carolina ; reaching its best development in the 
lower Ohio basin. It is usually confounded with the black oak. 

In North Carolina, where it attains a height of 80 and a diam- 
eter of 3j feet, it occurs sparingly in the coastal plain on sandy 
loam,, but is more common in the Piedmont plateau on gravelly 
loam growing with the post oak, white oak, and short-leaf pine. 
In the mountains, at an elevation of 2,500 to 3,500 feet, it is one 
of the commonest trees. (Fig- 24.) 




The scarlet oak bears acorns plentifully every 2 or 3 years, and 
young plants are common through the woods in many of the west- 
ern counties. Only young trees sprout readily from the stump. 
Trees over 3 feet in diameter are usually hollow or red-hearted, 
dry rot causing the defect. 

The thin smooth leaves are on long slender stems and deeply 
cut into long lobes by broad round notches. They turn to a brill- 
iant scarlet in the autumn. The small oval acorns are strongly 
pointed and half-imbedded in a deep coarsely-scaled cup. The 
slender, slightly angled winter-buds are pointed, and, like the 
slender twigs, smooth and reddish. The root system of older 
trees is distinctly lateral, many of the roots being superficial, or 
frequently exposed. 



BLACK OAK. 



101 



The wood is heavy, liard, strong, and close-grained ; the heart- 
wood light brown or red ; the sapwood rather darker. The lum- 
ber, if used at all, is confounded with that of the red oak. The 
bark is sometimes used in tanning, but is inferior to that of the 
black oak. It is rarely used in this State except for coarse 
staves and shakes, and for fuel. 

Quercus velutina, Lainai-ck.* 
(black oak.) 

A large^tree, with rough or deeply furrowed nearly black bark, 
grayish branches, a long clear trunk, and an oval crown, reaching 
a height of 160 and a diameter of 6 feet. 

].t is very common on dry or gravelly uplands from Maine to 
Minnesota, eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territory, and 
south to western Florida, and eastern Texas. It reaches its best 
development in the valley of the lower Ohio river. 

In Xortli Carolina (fig. 25), where it attains an average height 
of 80 to 90 and an average diameter of 4 to 5 feet, it is most abun- 
dant in the upper part, and occurs very sparingly, if at all, in 
the lower. 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROI/INA 

' MILES 



LEGEND 

1 Area in which the BLACK OAK is one of the 
! dominant trees (Quercus velutina, Zaw.) 

\ Area in which the BLACK OAK is a sub- 
; ordinate tree. 

'Distribution of the LAUREL OAK 
' (Quercus laurifolia, Mic/tx.') 




II Uniik Nulc C'.v 



It bears fruit abundantly at intervals of 2 or 3 years, and seed- 
lings are common under the light shade of the parent tree. 
Black oak forms a large part of the second growth mixed hard- 



*Quercus tiuctoria, Bartram. 



102 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

wood forests in the middle and the lower part of the Piedmont 
-plateau. Large trees are often hollow or red-hearted. 

The forest tent caterpillar, Clisiocampa disstria, Huebner, is 
often destructive to the foliage, and much injury is also caused, 
especially to young trees, by the oak pruner, Elaphldion villosum, 
Fabricius. 

The leaves are inversely egg-shaped, thicker and less deeply 
cut than those of the scarlet oak, and usually darker in color and 
less polished. The small acorn, nearly half enclosed in a thick 
scaly cup, contains a yellowish and very bitter kernel. 

The buds are thick, pyramidal, and downy. There are many 
deeply penetrating lateral as well as superficial rnnning routs. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, not tough, coarse-grained, lia- 
ble to check in drying; bright brown tinged with red in color; 
the sapwood much lighter. It is used for cooperage, construction, 
etc. The bark is largely used for tanning. Quercitron, a valua- 
ble yellow dye, is derived from the inner bark, which has astrin- 
gent medicinal properties. 

It has been cut extensively throughout the Piedmont plateau 
for building material and cooperage, and locally the bark has 
been employed to a considerable extent in 'tanning. 

Quercus catesbaei, Michaux. 

(fork-leaved BLACK-.IACK OAK. SAND BLACK-.TAOK OAK. SCRUB 

OAK. TURKEY OAK.) 

A small tree, with oval crown, numerous irregular drooping 
branches, and deeply farrowed black bark, reaching a height of 
about 50 and a diameter of 2 feet. 

It occurs upon barren sandy hills and ridges from Gates 
county, N. C, to central Florida, and along the coast to eastern 
Louisiana. 

In this State (fig. 23, p. 99) it is common south of the Neuse 
river in the pine barrens, where it has a height of about 20 feet 
and a diameter of S inches. 

Fork-leaved black-jack oak, generally bears fruit annually, and 
seedlings are very abundant on dry sandy soil. Its growth is 
rapid, but in North Carolina the tree seldom lives longer than 40 



SPANISH OAK. 



RED OAK. 



1<»3 



years. It grows frequently with the long-leaf pine, and often 
replaces it after lumbering. 

The rather leathery, broadly oval leaves are deeply lobed. The 
large ovoid acorn is half enclosed in a short-stalked, thick, top- 
shaped cup. The winter buds are large, conical and covered with 
brownish down. The root system consists of deep lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, compact, and 
light brown in color ; the sapwood somewhat lighter. It is largely 
used for fuel. The ash is rich in alkali and the bark in tannin. 



Quercus dig^itata, Sudworth.* 

(SPANISH OAK. RED OAK.) 

A tree, with a large spreading top, nearly black rough bark, and 
smooth dark gray branches, reaching a height of 100 and a 
diameter of 6 feet. 

It occurs from southern jSTew Jersey south to middle Florida^ 
through th(3 Gulf states to the Brazos river, Texas, and through 
Arkansas and southeastern Missouri to central Tennessee and 
Kentucky, southern Illinois and Indiana ; reaching its best devel- 
opment in the South Atlantic and Gulf states. 

In North Carolina where it attains an average height of 70 to 
80 and a diameter of 3 to 4 feet, growing on dry heavy soils, it is 
very common throughout, (lig. 26,) although rather less so toward 
the mountains. 




LEGEND 
Distribution of the SPANISH OAK 
(Quercus digitata, Sad.) 



Acorns are borne in abundan(;e every 3 or 4 years, and young 

* Quercus cuneata, Wangenheiin and Q. falcata Micliaux. 



104 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLIJSTA. 

seedlings are plentiful in rather dry open woods. On the dry, 
rocky uplands of the counties in the middle part of the State, a 
considerable pai-t of the second growth is composed of this species. 
Trees over 3 feet in diameter are generally not sound at the heart. 
Coppice shoots are very abundant around the stumps of smaller 
trees. This tree is sensitive to late frosts. 

The leaves are divided into 3 to 5 prolonged, mostly narrow, 
bristle-tipped lobes, and are downj^ on the lower surface. The 
short-stemmed fruit consists of a small globose acorn half enclosed 
in a somewhat top-shaped cup. The light brown winter-buds are 
covered with a light reddish down. The Spanish oak has, in 
addition to many deeply penetrating. lateral roots, numerous long 
superficial running roots. 

The wood is heavy, very hard, strong, not durable, coarse- 
grained, and checks badly in drying; light red in color ; the sap- 
wood lighter. It is used for cooperage, construction, and very 
largely for fuel. The bark is rich in tannin. A large amount of 
Spanish oak timber is still standing in the Piedmont plateau 
region, where it is one of the most common trees. 

Quercus niarilandica, Muenchhausen.- 
(black-jack oak.) 

A small tree, with rough black bark, and drooping irregular 
branches, reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of 2 feet. 

It occurs from Long Island, New York, to Wisconsin, southern 
Miniicsota, eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territory, and 
south to Florida and Texas; reaching its best development in 
southern Arkansas, and eastern Texas. 

In North Carolina, where it has an average height of not more 
than 25 feet, it is found upon barren clay or loam soils, gravelly 
for the most part. It occurs in all sectioiis, but is rare in the more 
elevated mountain counties. 

It bears fruit plentifully about every other year; and seedlings 
are abundant near the parent trees and in second growth woods. 

The large thick wedge-shaped leaves are smooth on the upper 
and covered with a rusty pubescence on the lower surface. The 

*Quercus nisra, Liniifeus. 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL, SURVEY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE X. 




WATER OAK 



AVATER OAK. 



105 



small globular acorn is half enclosed in a top-shaped, coarse- 
scaled cup. The conical, bright brown winter-buds are covered, 
like the angular twigs, with a light gray down. The buds are 
frequently injured by late frosts. The black-jack oak has a lateral 
root system. 

The wood is heavy, hard, and strong, and checks badly in dry- 
ing ; dark red-brown in color; the sapwood much lighter. It is 
little used except for fuel. 



Quercus nigra. Linn«>us.-- 
(water oak.) 

A small tree, with a large spreading top, dark rough bark at 
the base of the stem and smoother gray bark above, reaching a 
height of 80 and a diameter of -i feet. (Plate X.) 

It occurs from Delaware through the coast and middle districts 
to Florida and Texas, and westward to Missouri and Indian Ter- 
ritory ; reaching its best development in the maritime pine belt 
of the eastern Gulf states. A common tree. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 40 to 50 
feet and an average diameter of 12 to 20 inches, it is abundant on 
moist soil, usually bordering swamps and streams, in the coastal 
plain region and some parts of the Piedmont plateau region. 
(Fig. 27.) 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAKOLINA 



COASTAL PLAIN REGION _ 




LEGEND 

Distribution of the WATER OAK 

(Quercus nigra, Z.) 



It is one of the commonest trees on the oak fiats about the swamps 
of the coastal plain. 

*Quercus aquatica, Walter. 



106 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

The larger, crown-forining limbs are often broken, and the steni' 
is very frequently hollow or red-hearted. The trunk is apt to be 
covered with adventitious shoots. Even large trees send up 
numerous sprouts from the stump. The growth is generally rapid. 

The leaves are generally deoiduous, although, on the coast, 
many remain green during the winter, especially on vigorous 
shoots. They are thick, smooth, narrowed at the base, and 
rounded, or 3-lobed and bristle-tipped at the extremity. The small 
globular-ovoid acorn is set in a very shallow cup. The winter- 
buds are small and conical, upon slender flexible polished brown 
twigs. The lateral snperlicial roots are large and well developed. 

The M'ood is heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, and compact; 
rather light brown in color ; the sapwood lighter. It is used only 
as fuel. 

Quercus laurifolia, Michaux. 

(laurel oak. WATER OAK. WILLOW OAK. PIN OAK. 
TURKEY OAK.) 

A tree, with dark brown minutely roughened bark, and 
smoother and lighter branches which form an oval crown, reach- 
ing a height of 100 and a diameter of -i feet. 

It occurs from North Carolina southward near the coast to 
Mosquito Inlet and Cape Romano, Florida, and along the Gulf 
coast to Mobile bay; i-eaching its best development on the Flor- 
ida coast. A very common tree. 

In North Carolina, where it grows to a height of 60 to 70 and 
a diameter of 3 feet, it is found on sandy loam in the coastal plain 
region on oak flats bordering swHmj)s, and in the Piedmont plat- 
eau usually on damp soils aloJig streams. (Fig. 25, p. 101.) 

It bears fruit plentifully once in -3 or 4 years, and in the 
coastal plain, in moist open woods, seedlings are abundant. 

The leaves are thick, smooth, and rounded at each end. The 
small globose or slightly oval dark brown acorns are set in some- 
what pointed very short stemmed cups. The twigs are smooth, 
slender, and dark brown, thf^ buds pointed and lighter colored. 
The numerous lateral roots generally do not penetrate very deeply 
into the soil. 



UPLAND WILLOW OAK. TURKEY OAK. BLUE .lACK. l07 

The wood is heavy, very strong, hard, coarse-grained, and 
inclined to check in drying ; dark brown in color ; the sapwood 
lighter. It is sometimes, although rarely, used for clapboards 
and coarse staves. 

Quercus brevifolia, Sargent.* 

(upland WILLOW OAK. TURKEY OAK. P.IATE JACK.) 

A small tree, with large oval crown, rough dark gray bark, and 
slender drooping branches, reaching a height of 50 feet and a 
diameter of 18 to 20 inches. 

It occurs on sandy barrens and dry ridges from North Carolina 
near the coast to Cape Malabar and Pease creek, Florida, and 
westward along the Gulf coast to eastern Texas. 

In this State, where it has an average height of 30 feet and a 
diameter of 10 inches, it is found in the pine barrens of the 
coastal plain region. Immediately along the coast it sometimes 
reaches a larger size. 

It bears fruit abundantly and at frequent intervals, and seed- 
lings and young trees are common on the dry pine barrens. 

The oblong entire leaves are bristle-ti}>ped and covered with a 
w4nte down on the lower surface. About one-third of the small 
globose hoary acorn is covered by a stemless shallow cup. The 
winter-buds are small and oval. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, and compact ; 
light brown in color; the sapwood darker. It is used only for 
fuel. The bark yields a fine yellow dye. 

Quercus imbricaria, Michaux. 
(shingle oak.) 

A slender tree, with dark gray, rough or rather smootli bark, 
and smooth, light gray branches which form a large spreading top, 
reaching a height of 100 and a diameter of 4 feet. 

It occurs from Pennsylvania westward to western Missouri and 
northeastern Kansas, and south to northern Georgia and Alabama, 
*Quercus cinerea, Michaux. 



108 



TIMBER TBEES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



middle Tennessee, and northern Arkansas ; reaching its best devel- 
opment in the basin of the Ohio river. 

In this State, where it attains an average height of 40 to 50 feet 
and an average diameter of 12 to 15 inches, it is confined to the 
mountains and western part of the Piedmont plateau, where it is 
usually found along streams on alluvial loams. (Fig. 28.) 




LEGEND 

Distribution of the SmNGLE OAK 
(Quercus imbricaria, Michx^ 

Distribution of the WILLOW OAK 
(Quercus phellos, L) 



Seed years are frequent and young seedlings are common, near 
the parent tree, on moist valley lands in the mountains. 

The oblong lance-shaped leaves are entire, pale downy below, 
and tipped with an abrupt sharp point. The acorn is nearly 
globular and about one-third to one-half enclosed by a cup which 
is covered with broad whitish closely appressed scales. The 
brown winter-buds are acute and small-scaled. 

The wood is heavy, hard, rather coarse-grained, and checks 
badly in drying; light brown in color ; the sapwood much lighter. 
It is occasionally used for clapboards and shingles, and in con- 
struction. 

Quercus phellos, Linnseus. 

(willow oak.) 

A tree, with large spreading crown, rough dark brown bark, 
and smooth branches, reaching a height of 80 and a diameter of 
4 feet. 

It occurs from Staten Island, New York, south near the coast to 



*t. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



6ulLetin''i6. plate xi. 




CHESTNUT 



CHESTNUT, 109 

northeastern Florida, tlirongli the Gnlf states to eastern Texas, 
and through Arkansas to southeastern Missouri, Tennessee, and 
southern Kentucky. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 50 to 60 
and an average diameter of 2 feet, it occurs in large numbers in the 
coastal plain region and, scatteringly, in the Piedmont plateau 
region, in moist situations. (Fig. 28, p. 108). 

The willow oak forms a considerable portion of the second 
growth hardwood forests on the moist sandy loams of the coastal 
plain region and young trees are common along the streams of the 
Piedmont plateau. Young trees sprout vigorously from the 
stump. 

The leaves are narrow, lance-shaped, pointed at each end, thick, 
entire or nearly so, and downy when young. The acorns are small, 
globose, and set in a shallow flattened cup. The buds are small, 
pointed, smooth, and light brown ; the twigs slender. The willow 
oak has numerous spreading lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, strong, not hard, rather close-grained, com- 
pact ; light brown in color tinged with red ; the sapwood a lighter 
red. It it somewhat used for the felloes of wheels, clapboards, 
and in construction. 

Castanea dentata, Borkhausen. 

(chestnut.) 

A very common large and valuable tree, with deeply furrowed 
dark gray bark, and smooth light gray branches which form a 
large spreading crown, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter 
of 13 feet. (Plate XL) 

It occurs from southern Maine, southern Ontario, and southern 
Michigan, southward to Delaware and middle Tennessee, and 
along the Appalachian mountains to northern Alabama, reaching 
its best development on the western slopes of the southern Alleg- 
hanies. 

In North Carolina, where it is confined to the mountain region 
(fig. 29), it reaches an average height of 50 to 70 and an average 
diameter of 5 feet, but in favorable locations it sometimes attains 
the largest dimensions given above. 



110 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA-. 



Abundant production of seed occurs about every other year. 
Young plants are plentiful in moderately open woods and in old 
fields. The young trees are decidedly light-demanding and die 




quickly in deep shade. Specimens over 5 feet in diameter are 
generally unsound. After lumbering a growth of the same species, 
together with oaks, (generally the white, scarlet and black oak) 
springs up. The cliestnut enters largely into the composition of 
most second growth hardwood forests in the extreme western 
counties. It sprouts very freely from the stump and the shoots 
often grow to be large trees. The stumps retain their power of 
sprouting for many years. The trunk is sometimes attacked by 
the chestnut borer, Arliopalus fnlminans, Fabricius, and the nuts 
by the chestnut weevil, Balaninus car3'atrypes, Boheman. 

The thin oblong leaves are straight-veined and serrate with 
coarse sharp teeth. The yellowish-green sterile flowers are in 
large spreading bunches of catkins, appearing in the middle of the 
summer ; the fertile flowers are inconspicuous. The fruit consists 
of 2 or 3 flattened dark brown shining edible nuts enclosed in a 
light brown prickly bur. The winter-biids are small and ovate. 
A tap root is early developed. Later, strong deeply seated lateral 
roots are formed. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, easily split, 
very durable in contact with the soil, and liable to check and 
warp in drying; brown in color; the sapwood lighter. It is used 
for cabinet-making, interior finish, railway ties, fencing, and • 



BEECH. Ill 

posts, and is well adapted for charcoal. An extract from the 
leaves is used medicinally. # 

The chestnut is very common in the mountain counties of North 
'Carolina at an elevation of 2,500 to 4,500 feet, and is sawed 
extensively for local uses. 

Pagus ferruginea, Aiton. 

(beech.) 

A tree, with round or oval crown, smooth light gray bark, and 
■delicate branchlets, reaching a height of 110 and a diameter of 4 
feet. 

It occurs from Nova Scotia and northern Wisconsin, south to 
western Florida and eastern Texas; reaching its best development 
on the bluff formations of the lower Mississippi basin. 

In this State, where it attains an average height of 50 to bO and 
an average diameter of 2 to 3 feet, it is found sparingly and of 
small size in the coastal plain region, more commonly and of 
larger growth in the Piedmont plateau, and most abundantly and 
■of greatest size in the mountain region. 

The beech bears seed plentifully every 4 or 5 years, or along 
streams or in sheltered hollows more frequently. Young seedlings 
are common in damp shady woods, especially above 3,000 feet ele- 
vation. Towards the summits of many high mountains it forms, 
-with, birch and sugar maple, nearly the entire growth. The young- 
trees are capable of enduring deep shade. 

The leaves are thin, smootii, and straight-veined, each vein end- 
ing in a large tooth. The sterile flowers occur in small heads 
upon drooping silky stems, and the fertile flowers are often in 
-pairs on the summit of short stalks. The fruit consists of a prickly 
bur, enclosing two triangular sharp-ridged edible nuts. The 
brown winter-buds are long, slender, and pointed ; the twigs small 
and smooth. The root system consists of long superficial roots 
which are frequently exposed. 

The wood is very hard, strong, tough, very close-grained, not 
durable in contact with the soil, and inclined to check in drying; 



112 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

dark or lighter red in color; the sapwood nearly white. It takes 
a beautiful polish, and is used for chairs, shoe-lasts, plane-stocks^ 
handles, and for fuel. The bark is sometimes used for tannings 
and a valuable oil is derived from the nuts. The wood is little 
used in North Carolina except for fuel. 

Ostrya virginica, Willdenow. 
(hop hornbeaji. ironwood.) 

A small tree, with smooth dark brown branches, brownish finely 
furrowed bark, and an oval head, reaching a height of 50 and a 
diameter of 2 feet. 

It occurs from the Bay of Chaleur to northern Minnesota, 
south to eastern Texas, and along the Appalachian mountains and 
Piedmont region to western Florida ; reaching its best develop- 
ment in southern Arkansas. 

In North Carolina, where its average height is 20 to 30 teet, 
it occurs only in the Piedmont plateau and mountain regions. In 
rich spots near the summits of sonie of the high mountains, at an 
elevation of 4,500 to 5,200 feet, it forms small patches of almost 
pure forest or grows in mixture with the sugar maple and 
service tree. 

The hop hornbeam bears seed at frequent intervals. Small 
trees sprout freely from the stump. Numerous adventitious 
branches grow from the trunks of older trees. It is a slow 
growing tree and can endure deep shade even in youth. Trees 
over 12 inches in diameter are very often hollow. 

The thin leaves are oblong-ovate or elliptical, finely pointed,. 
sharply toothed, smooth above and somewhat hairy beneath. The 
male flowers occur in drooping cylindrical catkins, the female in 
short and slender ones. The fruit is hop-like and is made up of from 
12 to 20 seed vessels each containing one hard pointed nutlet. The 
prominent winter-buds are dark brown and cone-shaped. The 
hop hornbeam has a tap-root and deeply penetrating lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, very strong, hard, tough, very close-grained, 
compact, light brown in color, or often nearly white, like th6 



YELLOW BIKCfl. BITTEK BIRCH. ] 13 

sapwood. It is used for posts, levers, mill cogs, wedges, mallets, 
and the handles of tools. 

Carpihus carolitiiana, Walter. 
(hornbeam, iron wood, blue beech, water beech.) 

A small tree, wnth a short smooth dark bluish-gray or slate- 
colored trunk, marked by irregular longitudinal ridges, smooth 
gray branches, and a round or flat spreading crown, reaching a 
height of 50 and a diameter of 3 feet. 

It occurs from Nova Scotia to northern Minnesota, southward 
to central Florida, and through Iowa, Kansas, and Indian Terri- 
tory to eastern Texas ; reaching its best development on the west- 
ern slopes of the southern Appalachian mountains, and in southern 
Arkansas, and in eastern Texas. 

In I^s'orth Carolina, where it grows to a height of 25 feet and a 
diameter of 14 inches, it is found along water-courses throughout 
the State. 

It bears seed, at least in the Piedmont plateau, very frequently, 
and young growth is common along streams where the trees stand 
thinly. The best growth takes place under moderate cover, 
though the tree adapts itself to a wide range of light and shade. 

The leaves are oblong or elliptical, rounded at the base, sharply 
toothed, and slightly hairy on the veins beneath. The male 
flowers are in drooping cylindrical catkins. The fertile spikes are 
terminal, long-stemmed, and 6 to 12 flowered. The angular nuts 
are solitary and at the base of a 3-lobed leaf-like scale. The win- 
ter-buds are small and acute ; the twigs slender. The roots are 
superflcial. 

The wood is heavy, very strong, close-grained, and inclined to 
check in drying; light brown in color; the thick sapwood nearly 
white. It is used for levers, the handles of tools, etc. 

Betula lutea, F. A. Michaux. 
(yellow birch, bitter birch.) 

A tree, with spreading branches, and silvery yellow bark which 
scales oft' in thin sheets, reaching a height of 95 and a diameter 
of 4 feet. 



114 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

It is common from Newfoundland to the western shores of Lake 
Superior and Rainy Lake, south through the northern states to 
Delaware, and southern Minnesota, and along the Appalachian 
mountains to the high peaks of North Carolina and Tennessee; 
reaching its best development in soutliern Canada and the north- 
eastern United States. 

In this State, where it attains a height of 80 to 90 and a diam- 
eter of 2 to 3 feet it is coniined to the high mountains, where, in 
damp woods, it is not uncommon. (Fig. 30, p. 115.) 

Seed is produced abundantlj' every 2 or 3 years, and young 
trees are common in damp shady woods at high elevations. It 
grows rapidly when the light conditions are favorable. Speci- 
mens over three feet in diameter are usually hollow. 

The leaves are elliptical or ovate, coarsely toothed, and hairy 
on the midrib beneath. The male catkins are cylindrical and 
pendulous ; the female short and nearly erect, which, when mature, 
form an egg-shaped cone, li inches long, made up of stiff tough 
3-lobed scales and containing winged seeds. The flowers 
appear in early spring before the leaves. The prominent winter- 
buds are smooth and conical. The undeveloped male catkins are 
formed in the fall and are conspicuous during the winter. The 
yellow birch has a tap-root, which usually forks and takes a lat- 
eral direction, and several strong lateral roots. 

The wood is heavy, very strong, hard, very close-grained, com- 
pact ; light brown in color; the heavier sapwood nearly white. 
It takes a beautiful polish, and is used for furniture, veneering, 
button and tassel-moulds, spools, pill and matcli boxes, the hubs 
of wheels, flooring, and fuel. 

Betula nigra, Linnaeus. 
(river birch, red birch, black birch.) 

A tree, with a short trunk, a large, spreading top, reddish- 
brown furrowed bark on the stem, and on the branches reddish- 
white bark which separates in thin papery layers, reaching a 
height of 80 and a diameter of 3 feet. 

It occurs in moist situations from Massachusetts southward 
through the coast and middle districts to western Florida, and 



CHEKEY BIRCH. 



BLACK BIRCH. 



115 



westward to western Iowa and eastern Texas; reaching its best 
development in the south Atlantic states and the basin of the 
lower Mississippi river. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 40 to 60 
and an average diameter of 1 to 2 feet, it is found along streams 
and on the borders of swamps fronj the coast to the monntains. 
(Fig. 30.) 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAKOLINA 



COASTAL PLAIN REG ION 




! Distribution of the CHEERY BIRCH 
(Betula lenta, Z.) 

Distribution of the YELLOW BIRCH 
(Betula lutea, Michx.f.) 



It bears seed at frequent intervals, and young growth is com- 
mon on alluvial soil near the edges of fields and along streams. 
Young trees when cut send up numerous sprouts. 

The leaves are acute at each end, doubly-toothed, bright green 
above, and glaucous beneath when young. The fruit is an oblong 
spike (with woolly, 3-lobed bracts), containing the small rather 
broadly-winged seeds. The river birch matures its seed early in 
summer. The winter-buds are oval and dark brown ; the twigs 
brown, and downy when young. The root system consists of 
deeply penetrating lateral and running roots. 

The wood is light, rather hard, strong, close-grained and com- 
pact ; brown in color; the sapwood much lighter. It is used fur 
furniture, woodenware, wooden shoes, ox yokes, etc., and cask 
hoops of inferior quality are made from the branches. 

Betula lenta, Linnaeus. 

(CHEEEY BIECH. BLACK BIECH.) 

A tree, with reddish-brown rough bark on old trees, smooth 



116 TIMBEK TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

dark bark which resembles that of the cherry on the branches and 
on young trees, and a large oval crown, reaching a height of 80 
and a diameter of 5 feet. (Plate XII.) 

It occnrs from ISTewfonndlaod and the valley of the Sagnenay 
river w^estward through Ontario to the islands of Lake Huron, 
southward to northern Delaware and southern Indiana, and along 
the Alleghany mountains to western Florida, and westward to 
middle Kentucky, and Tennessee. 

In North Carolina, where it reaches an average height of 60 to 
80 and an average diameter of 2 to 2? feet, it is confined to the 
mountains. (Fig. 30, p. 115.) 

It produces seed once in 3 or 4 years. Young seedlings, which 
are common in damp cool woods, are short lived if very heavily 
shaded. Old specimens, over 2 feet in diameter, are often 
unsound. Young trees sprout from the stump. 

The ovate or oblong-ovate leaves are finely pointed, heart- 
shaped at the base, and sharply and irregularly toothed. The 
fruit is cylindrical or elliptical, with rounded ends, 1 to li inches 
long, and made up of small closely set scales. The buds are con- 
ical and pointed. The cherry birch has a superficial root system, 
although in 3'oung grow^th there is a prominent tap-root. 

The wood is heavy, very strong and hard, close-grained, com- 
pact ; dark brown in color; the sapwood light brown or yellow. 
It takes a beautiful polish, and is nsed for furniture and fuel, and 
in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for shipbuilding. Birch beer 
is made from the sap of this species. In some parts of North 
Carolina considerable quantities of cherry birch have been cut 
for lumber. 

Salix nig-ra, Marshall. 

(willow, black avillow. eiver willow.) 

A small tree, with a large oval crown, dark rough bark on the 
trunk, and smooth light brown bark on the spreading branches, 
reaching a height of 50 and a diameter of 2 feet, or towards its 
southeastern limit a mere shrub. 

It occurs along streams from New Brunswick and Lake Superior 
south to Florida and Texas, and in the valleys of the Sacramento 
river, California, and the Colorado river, Arizona. 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATI-: XII. 




CHERRY BIRCH 



POPLAR. ASPEN. LAKGE-TOOTHED ASPEN. 117 

In North Carolina it is found from the coast to the mountains, 
growing on loamy soils along streams, and reaches a height of 30 
feet and a diameter of 15 inches. It is rare in the high moun- 
tains, but in the Piedmont plateau is much more abundant. 

Seed is borne abundantly and at frequent intervals, and seed- 
lings are common on bottom lands. Trees of all sizes sprout from 
the stump. It is easily propagated from cuttings. The smaller 
branches and twigs are often injured by a saw tly, Cimbex 
americana. 

The leaves are narrow, lance-shaped, toothed and tapering at 
the ends. The flowers appear in early spring in drooping catkins, 
the male and female on separate trees. The fruit is a pendulous 
catkin, made up of small capsules containing minute seeds which 
are clothed with long silky hairs. The roots are very fibrous and 
tough. The light, coarsegrained wood is soft, not strong, and 
brown in color ; the sapwood much lighter. The bark is some- 
times used medicinally. 

, Populus grandidenta, Michaux. 

(poplar. ASPEN. LARGE-TOOTHED ASPEN.) 

A tree, with a short body, pyramidal crown, and rather smooth 
gray bark, reaching a height of 80 and a diameter of 2i feet. 

It occurs in moist situations from ISTova Scotia and New Bruns- 
wick westward through Ontario to northern Minnesota, south 
through the northern states, and along the Appalachian moun- 
tains to North Carolina, extending westward to middle Kentucky, 
and Tennessee. 

In th*is State, where it reaches an average height of -10 feet and 
an average diameter of 12 inches, it is found in the upper part of 
the Piedmont plateau, but is not very common. 

Although it bears seed frequently, young seedlings are uncom- 
mon. The rate of growth is uniformly rapid. The trunk is 
attacked by several borers and the leaves are often stripped 
off by caterpillars. 

The leaves, which are borne on slender flattened stems are 
roundish, with 5 to 9 large blunt teeth on each side. The flowers 



118 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

appear before the leaves in spring in drooping cylindrical catkins, 
the sterile and fertile on separate individuals. The fruit is a 
catkin consisting of small dry capsules with minute seeds, coated 
with cottony down. The buds are conical and slightly downy. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, close-grained, and compact; 
light brown in color ; the sapwood nearly white. It is used for 
wood pulp, and occasionally for turnery and woodenware, 

Populiis heterophylla, Linnaeus. 

(cOTTONWOOD.) 

A rare and local tree, with oval-oblong crown, dark gray bark, 
and lighter colored branches, reaching a height of 90 and a diam- 
eter of 3 feet. 

It occurs on the borders of river swamps from Connecticnt, gen- 
erally near the coast, to Georgia and western Louisiana, and in 
Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana, reaching 
its best development in the basin of the lower Ohio river. 

In this State, where it attains an average height of 70 to 80 
feet, it is fonnd in the rich swamp lands of the lower Cape Fear 
river, and probably elsewhere. 

The leaves are ovate, serrate with blunt incurved teeth, and 
downy on the veins beneath. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, close-grained, compact ; dull 
brown in color ; the thick sapwood lighter. 

Populus monilifera, Alton. 

(CAROLINA POPLAR. CAROLINA COTTONWOOD.) 

A large tree, with dark brown rough bark and oval crown, 
reaching a height of 170 and a diameter of 8 feet. 

It occurs from Vermont to Florida, and westward to Montana, 
Colorado, and JSTew Mexico, growing in low moist soil. It is com- 
mon in the West. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 60 to 70 
feet, it is rare, ard is found in the Piedmont plateau. 

It bears seed frequently in North Carolina but never abund- 



WHITE CEDAR. JUNIPER. 119 

antlj. Young trees are common on bottom lands along streams. 
Stumps over 18 inches in diameter sprout freely in the open. 

The leaves are broadly ovate, and serrate with large incurved 
teeth. The winter buds are conical, shining brown, and of mod- 
erate size. The Carolina poplar has numerous strong lateral 
roots. 

The wood is very light, soft, not strong, close-grained, com- 
pact, liable to warp, and hard to season ; dark brown in color ; 
the thick sapwood nearly white. It is used for paper pulp, pack- 
ing cases, fence boards, and fuel. 

Thuja occidentalis, Linnj«us. 

(arbor vit.e.) 

An evergreen tree, of pyramidal habit, with a rapidly tapering 
trunk furnished with numerous small branches at irregular inter- 
vals, reaching a height of 6() and a diameter of 5 feet, or at its 
sonthern limits reduced to a very small tree or shrub. 

It occurs from New Brunswick, to Lake Winnipeg, south to 
New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Minnesota, and along the 
Appalachian mountains to North Carolina, growing on wet soil. 
It is very cotnmon in the North. 

In tliis State, where it is but a shrub or small tree, it is con- 
fined to the mountains. 

The small blunt-pointed or awd-sliaped leaves are thictkly pressed 
along the branchlets in 4 rows. The flowers are very minute. 
The light brown cones are f inch louii;, and each of the 6 to 12 
oblong rounded scales protects 2 seeds. 

The wood is very light, soft, not strong, brittle, and very 
durable in contact with the soil; light brown in color; the thin 
sapwood nearly white. It is used for fencing, telegraph poles, 
railroad ties, and shingle?^, and sometimes for cabinet work and 
building. An oil distille:! from the leaves has been used in pul- 
monary complaints. 

Cupressus thyoides, Linnaeus.* 

(white cedar, juniper.) 

A slender evergreen tree, with numerous short spreading 

*Ctiamaecyparis sphaeroiclea, Spach 



120 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



branches which cover the greater part of the trunk and form a 
conical head, and reddish-brown deeply furrowed or loose bark 
reaching a height of 90 and a diameter of 5 feet. 

It occurs in deep cold swamps from Maine along the coast to 
northern Florida and Mississippi, and is rare west of Mobile bay. 

In tills State, where it reaches an average height of 40 and an 
average diameter of 2 feet, it grows in wet sandy, often peaty, soils 
in the coastal plain region, extending westward to Wake and Anson 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 

SCALE Of MILES 

SO ^HWf^; 

Fio. 31. .-fi^^^. 




LEGEND 
l-^p} Distribution of the PITCH PINE 
(Pinus rigida, MiH.) 



Distribution of the WHITE CEDAR or 
JUNIPER 

(Cupressus thyoides, L.) 



counties. (Fig, 31 ) It frequently occurs in pure forest, or with 
the white bay, or scattered in small clumps, in cypress and gum 
swamps. 

The juniper bears seed very plentifully nearly every year. 
Seedlings are common near the parent trees, but usually die under 
deep shade. Fire is very destructive to trees of all ages, and 
extensive areas of valuable timber have been burned, particularly 
in the Dismal Swamp. In many swamps large quantities of fallen 
trees, sound and lit for lumber, lie buried at various depths. 

The leaves are very small, ovate-pointed, awl-shaped, and 
closely appressed in 4 rows. The male and female flowers are 
separate but on the same plant ; the male catkins cylindrical, the 
female globose. The cones are very small and globular, with 
thick scales bearing 2 or more seeds at the base. The juniper, at 
least in peaty swamps, has a poorly developed tap-root or none at 
all, and long strong superficial lateral roots. 

The wood is very light and soft, not strong, close-grained, com- 



If. c. Geological sitrvey. 



stJLLETijsr 6. piiAtfi xm. 




RED CEDAR 



J 



RED CEDAE. 



121 



pact, easily worked, and very durable in contact with the soil ; 
light brown in color : the sapwood lighter. It is used for boat- 
building, woodenware, cooperage, shingles, interior finish, tele- 
graph posts, fence posts, railway ties, and in the manufacture of 
lampblack. Charcoal for gun power is made from the smaller 
trunks. 

The original growth, in most accessible jnniper swamps of this 
State, is being rapidly removed. There still remain, however, 
large quantities in Dare, Tyrrell, and Gates counties and in the 
Dismal Swamp, which are yet inaccessible. 



Juniperus virginiana, Linnseus. 

(red cedar.) 

An evergreen tree, with pyramidal head, numerous crowded 
drooping branches, and dark brown shaggy bark, reaching a height 
of 100 and a diameter of 6 feet, or at its northern and western 
limits often reduced to a low shrub. (Plate XIII.) 

It is one of the most widely distributed North American trees, 
and occnrs in all parts of the United States except western Texas, 
California, and Oregon ; reaching its best development in the 
valley of the Red river, Texas. 

In North Carolina, where it grows to an average height of 30 
to 40 feet, and an average diameter of 10 to 13 inches, it is found 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 

SCALE OF MILES 




Area in which the RED CEDAR is infre- 
quent or altogether wanting. 



throughout, but is rare and of small size in the high mountain 
counties. (Fig. 32.) 



122 TIMBEK TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

The red cedar bears seed abundantly nearly every year. Yonng- 
trees frequently form a large part of the growth on dry rocky 
fields and hillsides, particularly in the Piedmont plateau region. 
Young growth is often overtopped and crowded out by faster 
growing pines and oaks, although it can live in deep shade for a 
long time. Small specimens are very sensitive to fire. It is very 
free from the attacks of insects and from all fungal diseases. 

The leaves are small, entire, scale-like, and sharp-pointed or 
obtuse. The flowers are small and inconspicuous, and the fruit is 
a small ovate smooth berry, dark purple, and covered with a glau- 
cous bloom. On deep loamy soil the red cedar has a well devel- 
oped tap-root and numerous deeply seated lateral roots. 

Tlie wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, very close and 
straiglit-grMined, compact, easily worked, and durable in contact 
with the soil ; dull red in color; the thin sapwood nearly white. 
It is used for posts, sills, railroad ties, interior finish, cabinet 
making, woodenware, and for lead pencils to the exclusion of all 
other woods. The wood is odorous, and an infusion, of the ber- 
ries is used medicinally. 

Taxodium distichum, Ricliard. 
(cypress, bald cypress.) 

A large tree, of great commercial value, with deciduous leaves, 
a small flat spreading or pyramidal top, and deeply furrowed or 
loose reddish-brown bark, reaching a height of 150 and a diameter 
of 13 feet. 

It occurs in Wfr situations from Delaware to Florida and Texas, 
and in Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana ; reach- 
ing its best development in the south Atlantic and Gulf states. 
It is coniition and forms extensive forests. 

In Xorth Carolina, where it reaches an average height of 60 to 
100 ajid an average diameter of 5 to 7 feet it occurs in the coastal 
plain region (tig. 33), where it is one of the most common trees 
along streams and swamps. It is found on a variety of soils between 
a heavy mud-alluvium and a light sand or rarely on peaty soil. 

Although seed years are frequent, young plants are not common. 



WHITE PINE. 



12a 



A growth of gums usually follows the cypress after lumbering. 
Large specimens have swollen butts which are often hollow. The 



MAP OF 
?,-OKT.U CAKOLINA 

SCALE 



MOUNTAIN , .-r^,-ri 
_^ JtiSPN i PIl^DMONT gi-/n\EAU 




LEGEN 
•>:-;-<• Distribution of the WHITE PINE 
(Piims sti-obus, Z.) 

Area's CD-ila,ining merchantable CYPRESS 
(Taxodium distichum, Rich' 



Botanical distribution of the CYPRESS. 



timber has frequently small hollows and rotten spots scattered 
through apparently sound logs. 

The leaves are deciduous, flat, linear, and in two rows on the 
slender branchlets. The male and female flowers are borne on 
the same tree; the male in drooping flexible catkins, the female 
in ovoid catkins, singly or in small clusters. The fruit is a small 
dark brown globular cone with thick scales. There are many 
deeply penetrating lateral roots, and long superficial roots from 
which the "cypress knees" grow to a height of one to foun feet. 

The wood is light, soft, close and straight-grained, not strong,, 
compact, easily worked, and very durable in contact with the 
soil; light or dark brown in color; the sapwood nearly white. 
The lumber is known commercially in two varieties, the black and 
white cy}.ress, of which the former is heavier, harder, and more 
durable. It is used for construction, cooperage, railroad ties,, 
fencing, shingles, water pipes, and interior flnish. 

Much of the cypress has been removed along the larger streams 
and fr^n the more accessible swamps in the northeastern counties 
for the manufacture of lumber and shingles. Large quantities,, 
however, are still standing in the State. 

Pinus strobus, Linnaeus. 

(white PINE.) 

A large tree, of the first commercial importance, with horizontal 



124 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

l)ranches, and rough furrowed dark grayish-brown bark, reaching 
■a, height of 170 and a diameter of 11 feet. (Plate XIY.) 

It occurs from Newfoundland to the Winnipeg river, south 
through the northern states to Pennsylvania, Michi2;an, Illinois, 
Iowa, and along the Appalachian mountains to Georgia; reach- 
ing its i)est development in the region of the Great Lakes. 

In this State, where it attains an average height of 60 to 70 
^nd an average diameter of 2j feet, it is confined to the mountains. 
It grows for the most part at an elevation of 1,500 to 3,500 feet, 
«,nd is found along the Blue Pidge, and scatteringl j in the coun- 
ties west of it. (Fig. 33, p. 123.) 

The white pine bears seed at intervals of from 2 to 4 years. 
Seedlings are common in open woods, and in old fields on dry 
poor soil. It prefers a sandy loam, but is found on clay and on 
sandy soil. It grows usually on rich land or on high dry stony 
ridges, and often forms large patches of nearly pure forest. The 
growth is slow for the first 4 to 7 years, tlien very rapid for 40 
to 60 years, after which it again grows slowly. It is a long-lived 
tree, sound specimens having been found 350 or 400 years old. 
Specimens under 10 inches in diameter are sensitive to fire. 

In the northern states the grub of the pine borer or sawyer, 
Monohamnus confusor, Kirby, attacks the sound timber, though 
less frequently than that of decaying trees. The white pine 
weevtl, Pissodes strobi. Peck, causes a great deal of injury by 
entering and destroying the leaders. This species is also subject 
to the attack of the grubs of various bark beetles. 

The leaves are soft, slender, in fives. The male catkins are 
oval, the female long-stalked and cylindrical; the cones long, 
narrow, slightly curved, and tapering to a point. The seeds are 
small, smooth, and ovate, with thin wings about 1 inch long. 
The roots, which are remarkable for their durability, usually do 
not penetrate deeply into the soil. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, very close and straight- 
grained, compact, easily worked ; light brown in color ; the sap- 
wood nearly white. It is used for lumber, shingles, laths, build- 
ing material, cabinetmaking, interior finish, matches, wooden- 
ware, and domestic purposes, and is altogether one of the most 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



BULLETIN- fi. PLATE XIV. 




A GROUP OF WHITE PINES 



I 



}J. C. GEOLOGICAL StJEVBY. 



BUI.LF.TTN B. PLATB! XV. 




A GROUP OF LOBLOLLY PINES 



LOBLOLLY PINE. NORTH CAROLINA PINE. 



12& 



nsefnl timbers of the United States. Its threatened exhaustion is 
therefore a serious matter. 



Pinus taeda, Linn^us. 

(loblolly pine, old field pine. short-leaf pine. swamp PINE.. 
SLASH PINE. ROSEMARY PINE. NORTH CAROLINA PINE.) 

A large and valuable tree, with a long clear stem, a large ovoid 
crown, and reddish-brown bark divided into fiat rectangular 
plates, reaching a height of 150 and a diameter of 5 feet. 
(Plate Xy.) • 

It occnrs from Delaware to Florida and Texas, generally near 
the coast, and north to the valley of the Arkansas river ; reaching^ 
its best development in eastern North Carolina. 



»<^ 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 

SCALE 




LEGEND. 

Areas containing merchantable timber of 
the LOBLOLLY PINE 

(Pinus taeda, L^ 

Areas from which the merchantable timber 
of LOBLOLLY PINE has been largely 
removed. 



Ene'd W Amuiican Bank ^ 



In this State (fig. 34), where it attains an average height of 
50 to 70, and an average diameter of 2 to 3 feet, it is found on a 
great variety of soils and situations" from the sea level to an 
elevation of 1,000 feet. The original growth is on moist deep 
soil, but the second growth has sprung up largely in old fields, 
often replacing the long-leaf pine on the moister loamy lands. 

It bears seed generally every year, and abundantly once in 2 or 
3 years, but much of the seed is imperfect. Seedlings are very 
common on rather moist soil in abandoned fields. The rate of 
growth, under sufficient light, is very rapid. 

The slender light green leaves are usually in threes, with 



126 TIMBER TKEES OF NOKTH CAEOLINA. 

rather long close sheaths. The cones are ovate-oblonor and 3 to 4 
inches long ; the scales terminate in short rigid spines. This 
species has a tap-root and many strong deeply penetrating lateral 
roots. 

The wood is light, not strong, brittle, very coarse-grained and 
not durable ; light brown in color, the very thick sapwood orange 
or often nearly white. It is used for lumber and fuel. Turpentine 
is sometimes obtained from this tree. 

Pinus rigida, Miller. 
(pitch pine, black pine.) 

A tree, with an oblong crown, spreading branches, a cylindri- 
cal, and often crooked stem, and rather flaky dark reddish-brown 
bark, reaching a height of 80 and a diameter of 3 feet. 

It occurs from New Brunswick to the northern shores of Lake 
Ontario, sonth through the Atlantic states to northern Georgia, 
and westward to West Virginia and Kentuck}'. A very common 
tree. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of 50 to 70 
feet and an average diameter of 18 to 24 inches, it is found in the 
western part of the Piedmont plateau region and in the moun- 
tain counties south of the French Broad river. (Fig. 31, p. 120.) 
It grows on dry, often sandy or gravelly ridges, mixed with the 
short-leaf and scrub pines. 

It produces seed often and in abundance, and the seedlings, 
which require a good deal of light, are common' in dry open situ- 
ations, and in old fields. Young trees sprout from the stump to 
some extent, but the sprouts are short-lived. The resistance of 
the pitch pine to fire is exceptionally great. 

The rigid flattened leaves are usually in threes, from short 
sheaths, and 3 to 5 inches long. The cones are ovate and from 2 
to nearly 4 inches long, the scales armed with a short recurved 
spine. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, and coarse-grained ; 
light brown or red in color; the thick sapwood yellow or often 



N. C. GfeOLOGiCAL SURVEY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE XVt. 




POND OR SAVANNAH PINE 



POND PINE. 



SAVANNA PINE. 



12' 



nearly white. It is used for fuel, charcoal, and coarse lumber. 
It has been sparingly cut for lumber in North Carolina. 

Pinus serotina, Michaux. 
(pond pine, savanna pine, swamp pine, pocosin pine.) 

A small tree, with a short cylindrical trunk, numerous short 
branches, and smooth dark brown bark broken into rectangular 
plates, reaching a height of SO and a diameter of 3 feet. (Plate 
XYI.) 

It occurs on low peaty or wet sandy soils of the worst quality, 
from North Carolina to Florida, near the coast. 

In this State, where it reaches an average lieight of 40 to 50 
feet, it is common in the small swamps of the coastal plain, and 



MAP OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 

SCALE OF MILES 




LEGEND 
Distribution of the POND PINE 
(Pinus serotina, Mickx.) 

Distribution of the HEMLOCK 
(Tsnga canadensis, Carr. 

pistribution of the CAROLINA HEMLOCK 
' (Tsuga caroliniana, Engdm.) 



ntXolcCn.K.V 



is occasionally found in the Piedmont plateau region. (Fig. 35.) 
It bears seed frequently, and young growth is common on wet 
soil near old trees and mixed with the second growth of loblolly 
pine. A great deal of the seed will not gern'iinate. It is more 
sensitive to lire than the loblolly pine. Old specimens are often 
hollow or red-hearted. 

The leaves arc in threes, 5 to 8 inches long, somewhat shorter 
and from shorter sheaths than those of the loblolly pine. The 
cones frequently remain on the tree several years before dropping 
their seed. They are round-ovate, 2 to 3 inches long, with scales 
rounded at the apex and have a small weak prickle. 



:i28 



TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



The wood is heavy, soft, not strons?, brittle, coarse-grained; 
dark orange in color; the thick sapwood pale yellow. 

In some sections of the State the pond pine is manufactured 
into lumber with the loblolly, from which it is not distinguished 
commercially. 

Pinus virginiana, Miller.* 
(jersey pine, cedar pine, spruce pine, scrub pine.) 

A slender tree, with a short stem, very numerous limbs which 
form an open oval or conical crown, and red-brown frequently 
scaly bark, reaching a height of 120 and a diameter of 3 feet. 

It occurs from New York, generally near the coast, to Georgia, 
and westward to Kentucky, and Indiana ; reaching its best devel- 
opment west of the Appalachian mountains. 

In this State, where it grows to a height of 20 to 40 feet and a 
diameter of 12 to 15 inches, it occurs sparingly in the Piedmont 
plateau on gravelly ridges with the short-leaf pine, and along the 
foot and on the spurs of the Blue Ridge much more abundantly, 
mixed with the white and pitch pines, or sometimes forming 
small patches of pure forest. It is also found west of the Blue 
Ridge. (Fig. 36.) 



MAP OP 
NORTH CAROLEVA 

SCALE OF MILES 




LEGEND 

Distribution of the JERSEY or SCRUB" PINE 
(Pinus ■virginiaiLa, Mill.) 

Distribution of the TABLE MOUNTAIN. 
PINE 

(Pinus pungenSi Mickx./,) 



Eng'd I'v American Bank Vote Ca. W.Y. 



Seed is produced plentifully once in 2 or 3 years, and seedlings 
are very common, particularly in old fields, together with those 

*Pinus inops, Alton. 



TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE. 129 

of the short-leaf pine. The rate of growth is very rapid, but the 
tree is short-lived. 

The leaves are short, 2i to 3 inches long, rigid, in short sheaths, 
and usually in twos. The cones are light brown, solitary, curved, 
and oblong-conical, the scales armed with a rigid prickle. The 
root system is inclined to be somewhat heart-shaped, with a well 
developed tap-root. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, close-grained and 
durable ; light orange in color ; the thick sapwood nearly white. 
It is used for fuel, water pipes, and pump logs. In North Caro- 
lina it is used in the manufacture of charcoal, and to some extent 
for fencing. 

Pinus pungens, Michaux. 

(table mountain pine.) 

A tree, with rough reddish-brown bark and a large spreading 
crown, reaching a height of 60 and a diameter of 3j feet. 

It occurs along the Alleghany mountains from Pennsylvania to 
Tennessee, where it reaches its best development. A common 
tree, sometimes forming pure forest. 

In North Carolina it attains an average height of 30 to 50 feet, 
and an average diameter of 12 to 20 inches, and is found only 
along the Blue Ridge and the ranges immediately eastward on 
the driest, most barren ridges, usually associated with the pitch 
pine, and the chestnut and scarlet oaks. It is most abundant in 
the southeastern parts of Macon and Jackson counties. (Fig- 36, 
p. 128.) 

It bears seed abundantly ; seedlings are common in open woods 
near the old trees, and in abandoned fields. 

The leaves are 2 to 2i inches long, stout, and generally in twos. 
The light yellow very compact cone, 3 inches long and 2 inches 
broad at the base, has very broad strong sharp spines, 1-6 inch 
long, bent toward the top of the cone. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, coarse-grained ; light 
brown in color; the thick sapwood nearly white. It is used for 
charcoal and to some extent in construction. 



9 



130 



TIMBER TKEES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



Pinus echinata, Miller.* 

'(short-leaf pine, yellow pine, spruce pine, rosemary pine. 

heart pine.) 

A tree of commercial importaHce, with a long clear stem, a 
'broad oval ciown, and brownish-red bai'k broken into rectangular 
plates, reachinji: a height of 100 and a diameter of 4j feet. 

It occurs from Ncm^ York to Florida and Texas, through Arkan- 
sas to Indian Territory, Kansas, and Missouri, and in Illinois; 
reaching its best development in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. 

In North Carolina, where it grows to a height of 70 to 90 feet 
and a diameter of 2 to Si feet, it is found throughout, and enters 
into the composition of most upland forests. It appears less com- 
monly in the coastal plain region, being especially rare south of 
the Neuse river. (Fig. 37.) 




The short-leaf pine produces some seed annually, and bears abun- 
dantly about once in three years. Seedlings are common on well- 
drained soil, occupying abandoned iields and often growing in mix- 
ture with the loblolly pine. The rate of growth in youth is very 
rapid. On high exposed situations it is sometimes thrown by the 
wind. 

The dark green slender leaves are usually in twos, from a long 
sheath, and 3 to 5 inches long. The cone, smaller than that of 
the other North Carolina pines, and armed with slender short 

*Pinus mitis, Michaux. 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE XVII. 




A GROUP OF UONG-UEAF PINES 



LONG-LEAF PINE. 131 

spines, is rarely 2 inches lono;. It has a strong tap-root and sev- 
eral lateral roots. 

The wood varies greatly in quality and in the amount of sap- 
wood. It is heavy, hard, strong, and generally coarse-grained ; 
orange in color; the sapwood nearly white. It is much used for 
lumber, for which purpose it is only inferior to that of the long- 
leaf pine. 

In the middle sections near tlie railroad it has been largely 
removed. Large quantities still remain, however, in Stanly, 
Cabarrus, Randolph, Caswell, Davidson, Surry, Wilkes, Alexan- 
de,r, Iredell, Yadkin, Cleveland, Rutherford, and Caldwell coun- 
ties. The amount sawed in this State in 1894 probably was be- 
tween 50,000,000 and 60,000,000 feet, board measure, the larger 
part of which w^as for local use. 

On account of its tendency to spring up in old iields and open 
woods, and rhe excellent quality of its timber, the short-leaf pine 
is probably destined to assume very extensive economic importance 
in the future. 

Pinus palustris, Miller. 

(long-leaf pine.) 

A tree of the first commercial value, with a long slender trunk 
free from branches, a small round head, and thin bright red- 
brown thin-scaled bark, reaching a height of 95 and a diameter 
of 4 feet. (Plate XVII.) .. 

It occurs from Virginia to Florida and Texas, rarely beyond 
150 miles from the coast, and reaches its best development in 
northeastern Texas on the gravelly uplands of the valleys of the 
Sabine and Trinity rivers. 

In Xorth Carolina, where it reaches an average height of 70 
feet and an average diameter of 15 to 20 inches, it is found (fig. 
38) in pure forest from the Neuse river southward, occupying all 
the highest and driest sandy lands from the coast to within a few 
miles of Troy, in Montgomery county, and Rockingham, in Rich- 
mond county. Only along its western limits does it occur associated 
to any extent with other trees. The long-leaf pine formerly extended 
in an almost unbroken forest to Virginia, but it has been either 



132 



TIMBEK TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



entirely cut out or so much thinned that it is of little commercial 
•value north of the Neuse liver. The loblolly pine has for the 
most part taken its place, except on very dry and sterile soils. 



MAP OF 

NORTH CAROLINA 

SCALE OF M LES 



COASTAL PLAIN REGION _ 




**-v 



ks'i %M^^" 




LEGEND 
Areas containing merchantable milling 
ber of LONG-LEAF PINE 

(Pinus palustris, Mill.) 



Areas from which the milling timber of 
LONG-LEAF PINE has been largely 
removed. 



EngM I'Y Amcdcnn I 



The long-leaf pine bears seed very abundantly only at long and 
irregular intervals. A fair production of seed occurs about once 
in 5 years, while in the intermediate years the yield is small and 
localized. After a seed year the young plants are very abun- 
dant throughout the woods, but are killed in large numbers either 
by forest fires, by the dense shade, or .by swine rooting them up 
to devour the sweet tender roots. Young trees are very sensitive 
to fire. After the first four or five years trees in the open grow 
very rapidly u'.itil about 15 years old, particularly in height, after 
which time the growth is slow. When the long-leaf pine is cut 
or burned, and prevented from reproducing itself on account of 
fires and swine, the loblolly pine often follows on damp soils, and 
scrub oak or fork-leaved black-jack oak on high dry sandy lands. 

The timber loss by fire on long-leaf pine lands in 1893 amounted 
to not less than $100,000. At rare intervals extensive tracts are 
destroyed by bark beetles. Scattered trees are injured in locali- 
ties where the dead tops have been left in the woods after lum- 
bering. Beetles attack trees which have been injured by turpen- 
tine operations, which often so weaken them that many are thrown 
by the wind. In 1893 the losses, principally through this cause, 
amounted to between ten and fifteen million feet, board measure. 

The leaves are 10 to 15 inches long, in threes from long sheaths, 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



fettLLBTlN'S. PLATE XVttt. 




BLACK SPRUCE 



BLACK SPRUCE. HE BALSAM. LASH HORN. TAMARAC. 133 

and clustered on the ends of the thick scaly branchlets. Tiiey 
remain on healthy trees about 3 years, but on boxed trees only 
about two. The sterile flowers are rose colored, appearing about 
the first of April, and the large silky winter-buds are white. The 
cones are light brown, cylindrical or conical-oblong, 6 to 10 
inches long, and have thick scales armed w4th a stout blunt spine. 
A tap-root is developed in early life and is often forked. The 
root system of old trees tends to be heart-shaped with the lateral 
roots penetrating deeply. 

The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough, coarse-grained, and 
durable; light red or orange in color; the thin sapwood nearly 
white. It is widely used for construction of all kinds, interior 
finish, fencing, railroad ties, etc. Turpentine, tar, pitch, rosin, 
and spirits of turpentine are obtained alnjost exclusively from 
this species. 

The largest bodies of standing long-leaf pine are in Moore, 
Montgomery, Cumberland, Robeson, and Bladen counties, and 
probably not more than 50,000 acres still remain unboxed. Wil- 
mington has for a long time been an important centre for 
the manufacture of lumber from this species, and much has also 
been cut in the Aberdeen district in Moore and Cumberland 
counties. 

Picea nigra, Link. 

(black spruce. HE BALSAM. LASH HORN. TAMARAC.) 

A tree, with spreading branches which form a conical crown, a 
long cylindrical trunk, and dark brown scaly bark, reaching a 
height of 90 and a diameter of 4 feet. (Plate XYIII.) 

It occurs trom Newfoundland to Hudson bay, the mouth of 
the Mackenzie river, and the eastern slopes of the Rocky moun- 
tains, and south through the northern states to Pennsylvania, 
Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and along the Appalachian 
mountains to North Carolina. 

In this State, where it is confined to the upper slopes of the 
highest peaks, above an elevation of 5,000 feet, from Elk Knob 
in Ashe to Clingman's Dome in Swain county, it forms pure 
forest or toward the summits is mixed with Carolina fir and 



134 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

beech, and reaches an average height of 40 to 50 feet and an 
average diameter of 1 5 to 20 inches. In favorable localities at 
its lower limits, it attains a height of nearly 100 and a diameter 
of 4 feet. 

It bears seed in abundance, in this State, only at long and irreg- 
ular intervals. Young growth, however, is common in the thick 
woods. 

Great quantities of spruce have been destroyed by bark beetles, 
notably in Maine and in the Adirondack mountains of New York. 
A bud worm, Tortrix fiimiferana, Chniens, which attacks the 
shoots and tbliage, is one of its most deadly enemies. 

The dark green needle-shaped rigid leaves ai'e scattered on all 
sides of the slio;htlv downy branchlets. The cones are ovate or 
ovate-oblong and 1 to \\ inches long, with thin roundish scales. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, close and straight-grained ; 
light red, or often nearly white in color ; the sapwood lighter. It 
is used for construction, shipbuilding, piles, posts, railroad ties, 
etc. Spruce beer is made from this species. 

The largest bodies of spruce, in North Carolina, are on the 
Black mountains in Yancey county. Grandfather mountain in 
Watauga, the Balsam mountains in Haywood, and the Great 
Smoky mountains in Swain county. 

Tsuga canadensis, Carriei-e. 

(hemlock, spruce pine.) 

A large tree, with a large conical crown, numerous spreading 
branches, and dark red-brown deeplj^ furrowed bark, reaching a 
height of 110 and a diameter of 6 feet. (Plate XIX.) 

It occurs generally on northern slopes from Nova Scotia to 
northern Wisconsin, and south to Delaware, Michigan, central 
Wisconsin, and along the Appalachian mountains to Alabama ; 
reaching its best development in the high mountains of North 
Carolina and Tennessee. 

In North Carolina, where it attains an average height of 70 to 
80 and an average diameter of 2 to 3 feet, it is common in the 
mountains in cool ravines along streams on loamy or rich vegeta- 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE XIX. 




HEMLOCK 



CAROLINA HEMLOCK. HEMLOCK. SPRUCE I'TNE. 135' 

ble soil, associated with cherry birch, yellow birc^h, and the 
Khododendron. (Fig. 35, p. 123.) 

It bears seed frequently, and young seedlings are coninion in 
the shade of the old trees. The hemlock is very free from the 
attack of injnrions insects. Tall trees in exposed situations are 
often thrown by the wind. 

The dark green leaves are linear, flat, obtuse, two-ranked, and 
whitish beneath. The cones are small, oval or oblong, with the 
scales smooth and entire. The hemlock has numerous spreading 
lateral and superficial roots. 

The wood is light, soft, not strong, brittle, coarse and crooked- 
grained, difficult to work, liable to windshake and splinter, and 
not durable ; light brown or often nearly white in color ; the sap- 
w^ood somewhat darker. Commercially two varieties, the red 
and the white, are recognized. The coarse lumber is used for 
construction, outside finish, and railroad ties. The bark is 

extensively employed for tanning, and yields a powerful astrin- 
gent. Canada or hemlock-pitch is made from this species. 

A good deal of hemlock has been cut near Cranberry for the 
bark, and large quantities of logs have been floated down the 
branches of the Tennessee river from Graham and Swain coun- 
ties to Knoxville, Tenn. 

Tsuga caroliniana, Engelmann. 

(CAROLINA HEMLOCK. HEMLOCK. SPRUCE PINE.) 

A tree, with conical crown, numerous branches upon two-thirds 
of the stem, and rough thick red-brown bark, reaching a height 
of 50 to 70 and a "diameter of 2 to 3 feet. 

It is found locally along the eastern Appalachian mountains 
from the Saluda mountains, South Carolina, to Ashe county in 
North Carolina, where it occurs on clifl's along the South Fork of 
the New river, near Elk Cross-roads, and on spurs of the Blue 
Ridge; also in the gorge of the Doe river in Carter county, Tenn. 
(Fig. 35, p. 123.) It grows on dry and rocky ridges, rarely form- 
ing pure forest. 



136 TIMBER TKEES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

The Carolina hemlock bears seed frequently, but usually not in 
■abundance. Seedlings are common in dense woods. 

The leaves are longer and more scattered than those of the 
■common hemlock, to which the tree bears a general resemblance. 
The cones are larger, drooping, and with spreading scales. 

The coarse-grained brittle wood is light and soft ; light brown 
tinged with red ; the sapwood nearly white. 

Abies fraseri, Lindley. 

(balsam.) 

A tree, with conical crown, numerous spreading branches, and 
light gray rather smooth bark, reaching a height of 80 and a 
diameter of 2 feet. 

It occurs on moist slopes at an elevation of 5,000 to 6,500 feet, 
upon the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, often form- 
ing considerable forests. 

In this State, where it reaches an average height of less than 
40 feet and an average diameter of 12 to 15 inches, it is common 
on the highest summits of the mountain region, but it does 
not occur below 4,000 feet. It usually forms pure forest, but 
is found mixed Mnth the black spruce, and to a less extent with 
beech and the birches. 

It bears seed at rather long intervals, but seedlings are com- 
mon under the shade of the old trees. The growth in youth is 
rapid. 

The leaves are somewhat two ranked, linear, flattened and 
obtuse, and remain on the trees for several years. The cones are 
1 to 2 inches long. 

The wood is very light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained ; light 
brown in color ; the sapwood nearly white. It is little used. A 
thin, clear liquid called turpentine or balsam, derived frotn blisters 
on the bark, is used for cuts and sores. 

Sabal palmetto, Loddiges. 
(palmetto.) 
An endogenous tree, destitute of branches, with a small oval or 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 



BULLETIN 6, PLATE XX. 




A YOUNG PALMETTO. 

A GROUP OF PALMETTOS. SMITH'S ISLAND. 



PALMETTO. 137 

globose head formed of the lara^e round leaves, and rough furrowed 
dark brown bark, reaching a height of 40 and a diameter of 3 
feet. (Plate XX.) 

It oc"Jurs from Smith Island off Cape Fear river. North Caro- 
lina, to Key Largo, Florida, and along the Gulf coast to the 
Appalachicola river ; reaching its best development on the west 
coast of Florida, south of Cedar Keys. 

In North Carolina, it is found on deep sandy or loamy soil 
with the live oak, American olive, and water oak, and attains a 
height of 30 feet and a diameter rarely exceeding 18 inches. Its 
rarity renders it of little commercial importance. 

The leaves are large, fan shaped, palmated, and borne on stems 
18 to 24 inches long. The flowers are small, greenish, and in 
small clusters, and the fruit is a small rounded drupe. 

The wood is light and soft ; light brown in color ; the iibro- 
vascular bundles hard, dark, and difficult to work. It is imper- 
vious to the attacks of the teredo, very durable in water, and is 
largely used for piles and wharves. The inner portion of the 
young plant is edible, and is often pickled. 



FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



BY 



WILLIAM WILLARD ASHE. 



THE FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



By W. W. Ashe. 



FOREST DIYISIONS. 

North Carolina can be divided topographically into three well- 
marked divisions : 

1. The coastal plain eegion, or coastal division lying to the 
eastward and extending inland from the coast for a distance of one 
hundred to one hundred and fifty miles, has an aggregate area 
approximating 24,000 square miles. Its surface is that of a gently 
undulating plain of slight elevation (ten to fifty feet above sea 
level) and more nearly level surface eastward, and becoming more 
elevated (three hundred to five hundred feet) and rolling along its 
western border. The upland soils are sandy loams and loams, 
rarely stifl', moderately fine and even-grained. To the north 
of the Neuse river loams and loose loams are the more frequent 
upland soils; to the south of this river they are more sandy. In 
the more eastern portion of this region, in the vicinity of the coast, 
are numerous and extensive swamps, due either to insufiicient 
surface drainage, or the presence beneath the surface soil of 
impermeable strata. Their soils are silty and clayey, and com- 
pact ; or sandy and loamy, and loose; over limited areas they 
are peaty ; where they border the larger streams, that have their 
head- waters beyond the coastal plain region, they are silty with a 
small admixture of vegetable matter. 

In this region the normal annual temperature is about 61°F. ; 
and the normal annual rainfall about fifty five inches. 

2. The Piedmont plateau region, extending westward from the 
coastal plain, lies parallel to the Atlantic shore, and to the Blue 
Hidge, the eastern base of which marks the region's western bor- 
der. It is an extended peneplain, one hundred and fifty to two 
hundred miles in width, and has an area of about 22,000 square 



142 . FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

miles. In the east its surface is rolling, but adjacent to the larger 
streams, and toward the western limit, it becomes more hilly and 
rugged, and in places even mountainous, being penetrated by- 
spurs from the Blue Eidge. It has an average altitude above sea- 
level of 850 to 900 feet, bnt rises at the highest peaks to a little 
over 3,000 feet; along its extreme eastern border it is not over 400 
to .500 feet. On the uplands the soils may be described in gen- 
eral terms as loams, sandy in some places and clayey in others, 
formed by the decay of slates, gneisses, granites, and other crys- 
talline rocks. Along the numerous streams the soil is usually 
a fluvial deposit : a rich dark-colored loam, containing a vary- 
ing proportion of vegetable matter. 

The Piedmont plateau region has an average temperature of 
about 58.5° or 59° F., and an annual rainfall of about fifty 
inches. 

3. The mountain region embraces an irregular and mountain- 
ous table-land, which lies between the escarpment of the Blue 
Ridge on the east and the Great Smoky mountains on the west. 
Numerous cross-chains, separated by narrow valleys or broader 
river basins, connect these two mountain ranges. The region has 
an average altitude above sea level of about 3,500 feet , but rises 
(at Mt. Mitchell) to 6,711 feet. It has an area of nearly 6,000 
square miles. Although the mountain slopes are often steep, the 
soil is usually fertile, being a loam of varying physical character 
but generally rich in humus, open or porous and easily cultivated. 

The average temperature for the region probably approximates 
50° F., varying from 57.8° F., at Hot Springs, to an estimated tem- 
perature for the summit of Mt. Mitchell of less than 38° F. ;* the 
normal annual precipitation is about 57 inches. 

The rainfall throughout the State is about evenly distributed 
through the seasons ; more falls, however, in July and August, 
and less in October and November, than at other seasons. 

There are few late spring frosts ; and only occasionally are 
there early autumn frosts before the wood has ripened at the end 
of the growing season. 

*Climatology of North Carolina, N. C. Agr. Exp. Sta. Kept., Raleigh, 1892; p. Mi. 



FORESTS OF THF COASTAL PLAIN REGION. . 143 

Coinciding in general with the three topographic divisions 
described above are three well-marked forest divisions. That 
lying to the eastward will be called the coastal plain forest 
region. It includes the northern part of the great southern mari- 
time pine belt whicli, more or less interrupted, but retaining its 
characteristic arborescent growth, extends from eastern Virginia 
to eastern Texas. It corresponds to the Lonisianian zone of the 
biologists. 

The second forest division will be considered as the Piedmont 
forest region. The forests of this region are typical of the hill- 
country of the South Atlantic and (S-ulf states, and corresponds 
to the Carolinian zone of the biologists. 

The most western division will be considered as the mountain 
fovest region. It forms almost the southern portion of the Appa- 
lachian forests which extend from northern Alabama to Pennsyl- 
vania and New York, and is the Appalachian life zone of the 
biologists. On the higl er mountains, but on no peaks under 
5,000 feet elevation, occur isolated groups of forests, which are 
referred by the biologist to a more northern zone, the Canadian ; 
bnt these forests are not important enough, or sufficiently exten- 
sive in this State, to require more than a slight description. 

FORESTS OF THE COASTAL PLAIN REGION, 

The forests of the coastal plain region are characterized by a 
dominant growth of pines" on the uplands, except over limited 
areas where broad-leaf evergreen trees are dominant ; and conifers 
of several species, associated v/ith broad-leaf trees, maiiy of them 
evergreen, on the lowlands. 

The variations in the character of the forests of the coastal 
plain region are the result of tlie influences of three factors : 
(1) The maritime conditions, due to the proximity to the ocean 
and sounds, which perceptibly affect the composition of the forest 
only in the immediate vicinity of the coast; (2) elevation above 
the sea level, which is so slight as to cause evident effects only 
along the western limits of the region ; (3) differences in the soils, 
to which is largely due the distribution within the region of tlie 

*Pines occurring over the larger portion of this region all have '^ leaves to the sheath. 



14:4 • FOKESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

economic forests. The influence of the two first factors is through 
the temperature and relative humidity of the locality affecting 
the length of the growing season, the average annual temperature, 
and the amount of heat, or the extremes of heat or cold. 

The conjoined effects of these factors separate the forests of the 
coastal plain region into three parallel zones or belts : (1) The 
maritime forests, lying to the eastward along the coast, and under 
the influence of the sea; (2) the forests of the pine belt; (3) the 
transitional forests lying along the western border of the region. 

MARIT-IME FORESTS. 

The maritime forests, extending northeast and southwest along 
the entire coast-line, rise from high-water mark, cover the narrow 
islands, the so-called banks skirting the coast, and on the main- 
land extend inland for a sliort distance, fringing the margii],s of 
the numerous streams, bays, and inlets about as far as tidal effects 
occur. This area is only a few hundred square miles in extent^ 
having a lengtii of about two hundred and fifty miles and a 
breadth in this State rarely exceeding four or five. 

THE SOILS or THE MARITIME DIVISION. 

The upland soils of the maritime forest belt are of sand or ex- 
ceedingly loose sandy loams, in .a few places calcareous or limy ; 
being sea beaches, or the remnants of former beaches lying within 
the existing one, and bordering the sounds and the narrow inlets. 
There is scarcely a difierentiation into soil and subsoil, except 
occasionally in the larger proportion of organic matter contained 
in the superficial layers. Both upper and lower layers are 
identical in consistency, formed of large-sized and even-grained 
sand, with a small proportion of lime, in the form of calcium 
carbonate, from the weathering and disintegration of marine 
shells. The land surface rises usually only a few feet above high 
tide, though in a few places there are altitudes of 40 feet or more. 
Where the soils are fine-grained they are continually moist from 
water' suspended by capillarity ; where coarser and porous, they 
are soon dry, superficially, even soon after rains. The surface is 



CONDITION OF THE FORESTS. 145 

rolling, and in a few i:)laces there are hills with broad rounded 
crowns, where the force of wind and surf has lifted the loose sand 
high above the general level. 

CONDITION OF THE FORESTS. 

The forests of this maritime area are composed chiefly of 
broad-leaf evergreen trees: water oak, laurel oak, live oak, 
devilwood, mock-orange, smooth sweet bay, palmetto, yaupon and 
myrtle, with a single resinons species, the red cedar; while broad- 
leaf deciduous trees are represented chiefly by the southern lin, 
prickly ash,* buckthorns, planer-tree and water hickory, but these 
are not abundant, and are nearly confined to the alluvial soils or 
those richest in organic matter. The laurel oak and live oak are 
the most characteristic trees, being common throughout, and not 
being found in this State farther inland; although to the southward, 
following the isothermal, they occur far from the coast. Other 
trees whicn in this State are limited in their distribution to the 
maritime forests, are the devilwood, mock-orange, smooth sweet- 
bay, palmetto, planer-tree and magnolia. The water hickory, 
found on the banks of the larger streams, extends a few miles 
farther inland than most of these trees, and the same may possibly 
be true of the planer-tree ; while the water oak, red cedar and 
one species of buckthorn extend to within the Piedmont plateau 
region. 

The growth of the original forest where it is yet preserved is 
from 40 to 60 feet in height, the trees short-boled, the crowns 
large and spreading, interlaced into a dense canopy. Water oak, 
laurel oak, live oak, red cedar, smooth sweet bay, holly, and mock- 
orange, in relative abundance about in the order named, consti- 
tute from one-half to over three-fourths of the growth. Where 
culling has been carried on occasional loblolly pines have gained 
a foothold, or abundant-seeding species like yaupon, red cedar and 
the laurel oak have greatly multiplied. 

Beginning at the Yirginia line and passing to the south, there 
is a constant increase in the number of species present, so that 
while only a few species are represented beyond the Albemarle 
sound the number reaches a maximum in this State at and around 

*See p. 19. 
10 



146 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

the mouth of the Cape Fear river, where at least two species find 
their northern limits. This enables the maritime forests to be 
roughly separated into two divisions : one lying to the north of 
Cape Hatteras, which point may be considered to mark the divis- 
ion between the two ; and the other to the south of this cape. In 
the northern division, water oak and live oak, and red cedar form 
nearly the entire arborescent growth ; while in the southern, with 
these occur the laurel oak, mock-orange, and, but irregularly dis- 
tributed, the palmetto, devilwood, and magnolia. The palmetto 
is confined to Cape Hatteras and Smith's Island, the magnolia to 
the coast region of Brunswick county. 

Where the soils are more moist, the growth is largely of water 
oak and laurel oak, holly, smooth sweet bay, and mock-orange, 
with occasional lins, or other kinds of oaks in addition to those 
named above, which form a dense upper story ; beneath them are 
small shade-bearing trees or shrubs. The forest floor is good 
and the humus deep. Where the soils are drier, either from 
greater coarseness of the sand or from being more elevated above 
sea level, red cedar, live oak and prickly ash, enter more largely 
into the composition of the forest, the trees being smaller in size 
and with shorter boles. On the driest soils, the growth is 
restricted to scattered groves of red cedar, half shrubby forms of 
the live oak, thickets of plum and yaupon, and other shrubs which 
rapidly propagate by means of root-shoots and snckers. 

Probably not over one-half of the area is wooded ; the remaining 
portion is naked, only a small part of it being under cultivation. 
In places along the coastal islands, and this is particularly true to 
the north of Cape Hatteras, there are great stretches destitute of 
all tree growth, the soil being a coarse beach-sand, the surface of 
which rises into parallel ridges which reach a height, in places, of 
70 or more feet above sea level; and this sand, being fixed by no 
network of plant root-fibers, and containing no binding ingredient, 
is constantly shifting under the impact of the winds. Some such 
areas were originally forest-covered, but once cleared, and the 
humus, which was slightly cohesive, destroyed, the constant move- 
ment of the sand before the winds, which have piled it into shift- 
ing dunes, has prevented a general growth of any kind from secur- 



FORESTS OF THE PINE BELT. 147 

ing a foothold. Fishermen's houses have been destroyed by these 
moving dunes and their sites obliterated, and others are menaced 
by them. Considerable areas of forest have been destroyed by the 
roots of trees being deeply covered with sand or the entire forest 
buried, thus increasing the extent of the shifting dunes. Occa- 
sional clumps of prickly ash and devilwood, which put forth adven- 
titious-roots from the young twigs as they are partly covered by the 
sand, or thickets of shrubby live oak, plum, and shrubs which 
sucker freely, maintain themselves in some places for many years. 
All oaks, except the youngest, are killed by such moving dunes. 
Ked cedar, holly, palmetto, mock-orange and myrtle, not rooting 
from the young wood, are quickly destroyed by the covering of 
sand. 

A maritime dune, over two miles in length and twenty feet in 
height, is now moving across Smith's Island, which lies at the 
mouth of the Cape Fear river. Starting in the southwest part of 
the island, and moving to the northward, it has already destroyed 
the forest along the southern edge of the island. 

Commercially these forests are unimportant except where they 
produce, on some of the islands, a limited number of red cedar 
posts. Their protection is worthy of consideration, however, ap 
they act as a safeguard in preventing the formation of inlets 
which would impair existing water-ways. 

THE FORESTS OF THE PINE BELT. 

These forests extend from within a few miles of the sea coast 
inland to near the western limits of the coastal plain region, and 
embrace the greater ])ortion of the economic forests of the region 
as well as cover the greater part of its area. 

FOREST TREES. 

The pines growing in this pine belt are the long-leaf, the lob- 
lolly, the pond and in some places the short-leaf. They are for 
the most part confined to the uplands, and form the dominant 
growth with broad-leaf trees beneath them, or occur as a pure 
growth. Other coniferous or resinous trees found are the cypress, 
white cedar, and red cedar, all of which in the original forests are 



148 . FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

confined to the lowlands. The broad-leaf trees are chiefly water 
oak, willow oak, Spanish oak, swamp chestnut oak, overcup and 
post oaks, and such smaller species of oak as upland willow oak 
and the black-jack oak, which, though very abundant, are at 
present economically of little value; sweet gum, water gum and 
tnpelo, elms, red maple, hackberry, hickories (chiefly the white, 
shagbark, and bitternut), and dogwood. 

The larger broad-leaf trees, with the cypress and cedars, are con- 
fined to the lowlands and better class of soils, pines superseding 
them on the drier or impoverished soil of the uplands. 

DISTINCTIVE GROWTH. 

The difterence between the^e forests and those of the maritime 
division are marked : The latter are composed mostly of broad- 
leaf evergreen species; tiie former are composed largely of pines 
and broad-leaf deciduous trees. A few trees are common to both 
forests. Thus the water oak is a conspicuous tree in both ; but 
the red cedar is infrequent or altogether wanting over the larger 
part of the area of the pine belt. The smooth sweet bay of the 
maritime belt is represented in the pine belt by the closely 
related sweet bay. (See p. 26.) 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PINE BELT. 

The surface of this part of the coastal plain region is gently 
rolling, there being, particularly to the eastward, areas of large 
extent almost level, but along the western border, especially in 
Harnett, Moore and Richmond counties, it is hilly and broken. 
The area is nearly as great as that of the coastal plain forest 
region, and the altitude above the sea level is about the same as 
was given for that, being from 10 or. 15 feet along the eastern bor- 
der to 150, and even 300 feet, in Moore county, along the west- 
ern border. 

To the eastward, in the neighborhood of the coast, where the 
drainage is insutficient to remove the rainfall, there are extensive 
areas of lowlands or swamp, mostly forest-covered ; while west- 
ward, where the fall permits more thorough drainage, the swamps 
are restricted to narrow borders contiguous to the streams. The 



FORESTS OF THE PINE BELT UPLANDS. 149 

entire swamp-area of the region aggregates nearly 4,000 square 
miles. 

THE CHANGES (N THE KIND OF FOREST GROWTH. 

The changes in the condition of the forest growth are dne 
almost entirely to variations in the character of the soils : porosity, 
fertility, the amonnt of moisture contained in them, and to the 
distribution of the soil-moisture during the growing season. The 
extremes of moisture encountered are from wet, or even inundated 
soils throughout the growing-season, to dry soils for the greater 
part of the year, except immediately after a rain. In fertility the 
range is between compact and line-grained " mud " alluvium, 
containing in abundance all the elements of plant-food, to almost 
pnre sand ; in porosity, from coarse-grained sand of great depth, 
to compact shallow top-soils with impermeable substrata. Some 
soils are almost destitute of humus, while others are constituted 
largely of decaying or decayed vegetable matter. Such extremes 
of soils are often in juxtaposition, there being no easy gradation 
from one to the other, so that the contrast and line of demarcation 
between the two, and the respective arborescent growth which 
they support, is sharply and distinctly defined. 

The forests of the pine belt are separable into two groups : those 
of the uplands, on which the long- leaf and loblolly pines are the 
dominant trees ; and those of the lowlands on which white cedar, 
cypress, or broad-leaf trees are the most abundant. 

THE FORESTS OF THE PINE BELT UPLANDS. 

Forests of pine covered, at least in their original distribution, all, 
of the uplands, there being only a few local areas on which broij-d- 
leaf trees were not subordinate to them. To the north of the Tar 
river, except on the porous and highly silicious soils where pure 
and uninterrupted forests of long-leaf pine occurred, the original 
forests were composed of alternating belts of short-leaf and 
loblolly pines; the short-leaf pine, with a subordinate growth of 
broad-leaf trees, largely oaks, dominating along the crests and on 
the drier and more gravelly soils, as occasional trees of this species 
still standing now testify; while on the lower, moister, loamy 



150 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

soils grew the loblolly pine, forming a ruling pure growth or 
coordinate with broad-leaf trees. To the north of the Roanoke 
river the long-leaf pine probably formed only two extensive 
forests: one on the sandy area extending north and south through 
Gates county, the other on " long ridge," an elevated body of sand 
lying to the south of the Dismal Swamp. To the south of the 
Roanoke river, the areas of sandy soils with the accompanying 
growth of long-leaf pine were more frequent, extensive bodies 
occurring in Halifax, Bertie, and Edgecombe counties; while in 
Wayne and JSfash counties, to the north of the Neuse river, began 
the forests of this tree, which extended with their continuity 
scarcely b oken except by the water courses, west to the oak 
uplands of the Piedmont plateau and southwestward to the Gulf 
of Mexico. Within this area, only adjacent to the swamps were 
there at the iirst settlement of this country more than scattered 
trees of the loblolly pine. 

The iniiuence of man in changing and modifying the distribu- 
tion of these trees in the two hundred years that have followed 
has been enormous. 

To the north of the Neuse river the long-leaf pine has nearly 
disappeared. Occasional solitary trees are still to be found among 
other kinds of pines, or broad-leaf tiees, and on the sand hills of 
Wayne county, and in the flats of the great Dover swamp, groups 
of a few trees yet occur; but their commercial value as forest 
trees in this section has passed away. The short-leaf pine has as 
thoroughly disappeared from the counties lying to the north of 
the Tar river as has the long-leaf; the loblolly pine with an 
.accompanying growth of small broad-leaf trees has succeeded both. 

jA.t the present time the forest of the uplands are separable into 
two divisions with distinct arborescent growth : 

(1.) That in w^hich the long-leaf pine is the dominant economic 
tree : the long- leaf pine woodland. 

(2.) That in which the loblolly pine is the dominant economic 
tree : the level pine woodland. 

In the present aspect of the forest there is no sharp line of 
demarcation between the two, but a ditferentiation is made for 
simplifying their consideration, as there are large areas, particu- 



LONG-LEAF PINE WOODLAND. 151 

larily to the south of the Neiise river, on which the two trees 
occur side by side forming about equal proportions of the woods, 
but in such places the loblolly pine is in process of supplanting 
the long leaf pine, and such woodland will be considered from a 
sylvicultural point of view, as being more suitable for the growth 
and development of the loblolly than the long-leaf pine. The 
commercial timbers of each kind now on these lands will, how- 
ever, be considered. 

LONG-LEAF PINE WOODLAND. 

The area on which the long-leaf pine is the dominant tree, or 
where it yet exists side by side with the loblolly pine, extends 
from near Bogue sound in Carteret county, southward along the 
great sand bank lying between the sounds and the swamps ; from 
the borders of the Dover swamp northward to Enfield in Halifax 
county, and Nashville (within the transitional division) westward 
to Cary (in AVake county), Sanford (in Moore county), and the east- 
ern edge of Montgomery county, and the southeastern corner of 
Anson county. To the northeastward of this area, wherever the 
soil was suitable, the long-leaf pine has been replaced by the lob- 
lolly ; but on limited areas of sandy soils, occasional specimens of 
the former species yet stand, unsurrounded by other large forest 
trees, but showing that its fellows once tenanted the entire soil. 
Such areas will be fully described in considering the pine barrens. 

Along the great sand hills just wnthin the sounds, the long-leaf 
pine occurs in open forests of small trees, now largely removed ; 
further inland, on the praries and hillocks in the swamps and the 
wet-soiied downs of the coast of Brunswick county, clumps of 
larger trees grow at intervals; on the loams in the basins ot the 
Black and Northeast Cape Fear rivers, and on similiar soils in 
Columbus, Bladen, and Robeson counties, the long-leaf and lob- 
lolly pines are found together; while northward to northern 
Wayne, and westw^ard to Wake and Anson counties, it forms, 
where unlumbered or not destroyed, a nearly pure growth of 
medium- sized trees. 

Leaving out of consideration the few trees disseminated through 



152 FORESTS OF NOETH CAROLINA. 

the swamps on hillocks, the long-leaf pine occnrs on two classes of 
soils : 

(1.) The sands of the pine barrens, which include the drier 
forest lands between the sounds and the great swamps, and the 
greater areas of dry sandy soils lying in the western parts of the 
coastal plain. 

(2.) The loams of level pine woodland which are at present in 
most places the debatable ground between the long-leaf and lob- 
lolly pines, and are, in certain sections, largely occupied by the 
latter species. Such areas on which the loblolly pine is now dom- 
inant will be described in considering that tree. 

In the forests on both kinds of soil dissimilar changes in their 
composition are in progress, the result of nearly the same factors 

THE PINE BARRENS. 

The largest detached areas of pine barrens are the long ridge, 
l3'ing to the south of the Dismal Swamp, the areas in Gates and 
Green counties, the one to the north of tlie Neuse river in Craven 
county, narrow strips lying north and south in Pender and Dup- 
lin counties, a great part of ISTew Hanover county, considerable 
areas in the southern part of Bladen, the middle and southern 
parts of Wayne and Columbus, and a narrow belt lying between 
the vast coastal swamps and the coast in the counties of Bruns- 
wick, Onslow", and Carteret ; while a single large body extends from 
the northern part of Sampson, the southern and central parts of 
Harnett, northern and eastern portions of Bladen, and northern 
Robeson counties throughout Cumberland to the western sections 
of Moore and Richmond counties. 

SOILS OF THE PINE BARRENS. 

The soils are of almost pure sand, containing very little clayey 
ingredients ; loose, coarse-grained, dry on the surface, even soon 
after a rain, fresh below, but becoming dry to a considerable 
depth, and usually with no diflferentiable subsoil. But in the 
smaller areas there is a top-soil of sand, often shallow, especially 
around the edges where stiffer loams form a more fertile subsoil. 
Geologically the}^ are of recent date. 



FORESTS OF THE PINE BARRENS. 153 

The distinctive arborescent growth of these lands is the long- 
leaf pine and several small scrub oaks ; the fork-leaf black-jack 
oak, barren willow oak, and forms of the post oak. 

CONDITION OF THE FORESTS OF THE PINE BARRENS. 

Generall}' the pi-ie forests of the barrens resemble a two-storied 
high forest, there being an upper story of this pine, about 70 or 80 
feet in Reight, with a rather thin cover, even where uninjured by 
fires or unlumbered ; beneath the pine an open growth of the 
scrub oaks from 10 to 15 feet in height, or in places nearly clear. 
As the cover of the pines becomes thinner, the scrub oaks beneath 
them become more numerous. The floor is poor, and there is but 
little humus; it is grassy with coarse tufts of the wire grass of 
broom grasses or covered with shrubs. There is no young growth 
of the long-leaf pine or any valuable tree. 

Practically all of the pine has been tapped for its resin, crude 
turpentine, the amount of round-timber standing, which has not 
liad the trunk excorticated in the process of turpentining, being 
less than 50,000 acres. Not only has the greater portion of the 
timber been sa boxed for turpentine, but, after the original faces 
have been scarified as high as possible, and the trees allowed to 
rest a few years, additional boxes have been cut between the 
former ones. Many trees, thus weakened by the deeply cut boxes 
at the collar of the trunk, windfall, and the loss of timber from 
this cause has been enormous. The resin-covered surfaces wh^re 
tapped for turpentine are highly inflamable, and tires passing over 
the dry herbage spread to the trees and frequently destroy them. 

This description represents the forests where they are in the 
best condition, but it is now realized in only a few places in 
North Carolina. 

The greater portion of the forests have been culled for many 
years, so that there are extensive areas thinly stocked, a few pines 
to each acre standing in thickets of scrub oaks; or there are large 
areas of abandoned turpentine orchard, aggregating probably 
700,000 acres, but yet containing a small amount of timber suita- 
ble for saw logs. There are extensive areas lying within these 
forests from which the timber has been so thoroughly removed by 



154 



FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



fires, lumbering, and a reckless system of turpentining that the 
lands maj' be classed as waste, there being on them neither mer- 
chantable trees nor yonng growth of any species which will, in the 
course of time, yield timber. Nearly all of the Avaste land in the 
eastern counties lies in the. pine barrens, the larger ai-eas being 
in Wayne, Sampson, Bladen, Brunswick, Harnett, Cumberland, 
Moore, and Richmond counties. The entire area of waste land is 
about 400,000 acres. • 

The waste lands are due to the failure of the long-leaf pine to 
reproduce itself to any considerable extent in tliese vast areas. 
Their present condition has been gradually matured, and the 
causes which have produced it may now be seen in operation in 
nearly any unprotected wood of long-leaf pine, where there is no 
young growtli of this tree. The scanty reproduction is due 
largely to the fires which in many places pass over the land every 
year consuming the dead herbage, the wire grass and the leaves of 
the scrub oaks, and destroying the slow growing young pines, 
which by the end of the fifth year have only reached a height of 
3 to 5 inches above the ground ; the infrequent seeding of the 
old trees ; the enormous destruction of the seed by hogs and fowls 
when there is a seed-year; the further depredations niade by hogs 
digging up the plant to get the root. It is doubtful if the partial 
shade of the scrub oaks is sufficient to interfere seriously with the 
developmeiit of the young plant, as great as are its requirements 
for sunlight and warmth. 

The tailure of the forests of long-leaf pine to reproduce them- 
selves naturally, except to a limited extent, on any part of the 
pine barrens, has already been treated of in a previous report of 
the Geological Survey. It is a matter of importance, as the land 
m ;ts present state represents a great amount of capital lying idle 
which might be made productive to the owner, and give employ- 
ment to labor engaged in handling or manufacturing forest 
products. It is absolutely essential that the demands necessary 
for its growtli be accorded it — immunity from destruction by fires, 
protection against the depredations of stock, particularly hogs, 
both to the seed and the young plant, and protection against the 



POSSIBILITIES OF THE PINE BARRENS. 155 

encroacliiiient of more rapid-growing pines or broad-leaf trees, on 
soils where snch will grow. 

POSSIBILITIES OF THE PINE BARRENS. 

The pine barrens, on account of their impoverished soils, 
are incapable of sustaining a wood of a large-sized broad-leaf 
species. The loblolly pine seems incapable of naturally securing 
a foothold in these sands, as nowhere in the forest does it follow 
the long-leaf pine as that tree is removed ; and on the limited 
areas of old fields where it has appeared spontaneously, it seems 
unable to attain a large size or perfect development, the boles 
being short and crowded with limbs, the crowns large and spread- 
ing, the wood in the standing tree, even the sapwood, often evinc- 
ing at an early age signs of decay. These are, in fact par excel- 
lence the long-leaf pine lands. No other tree for timber use is 
capable of attaining even a moderate development on this soil. 
The least exacting of the larger forest trees of the State, both in 
'regard to soil-moisture and fertility, it is able to secure by means 
of its deep-seated taproot, which often penetrates the layers of 
sand to a depth of ten or twelve feet, the mineral elements 
necessary for its development, and reach on the most barren soils a 
height of 50 to 70 feet and a diameter of 14 to 16 inches. On the 
pauperized soils of the barrens lyiug near the sounds, the pine is 
unable to become more than a middle-sized tree 50 to 60 feet in 
height with a diameter of about 16 inches ; on the deep and poor 
sands of AVayne, the northern part of Bladen, and portions of 
Sampson counties the conditions of development are similar to 
or only a little better than those prevailing near the coast, and 
continue so to the westward through Cumberland, Harnett and 
Richmond counties, until in Moore and Montgomery counties 
the loose sands become confluent with the late drifts derived from 
the sandstones containing clayey particles and a loamy subsoil, 
where a better growth can be secured. But on many of the 
smaller areas of sandy soils, where the taproot of the tree is able 
to penetrate the sand and reach a stifier subsoil, the tree reaches 



156 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

•a larger size, a height of 70 to 90 feet and a diameter of 16 to 20 
inches. 

LEVEL PINE WOODLAND. 

The surface of these lands, (also see page 161), is very nearly 
level, slightly rolling, or sloping toward the streams ; the soils 
loose, or moderately compact loams, or sandy loams with some- 
what firmer yellow or gray, loamy or stiff loamy subsoils ; mostly 
fine-grained, moist or fresh but well-drained. As they become 
more moist and more loamy the loblolly pine occupies them, espec- 
ially over the large areas to the north of the Tar river. 

The larger areas on which the long-leaf pine is yet standing 
are in Edgecombe, Johnson and Wilson counties ; the basin. of the 
]^ortheast Cape Fear river from the southern part of Wayne 
<iounty southward ; large areas in the southern parts of Bladen 
and Robeson counties and smaller areas in Brunswick and Colum- 
bus Counties. 

As has been stated, the long-leaf pine fornierly occupied the 
greater portion of these lands to the exclusion of almost every 
other tree, but as the mature trees of this species were removed or 
died they have been rapidly replaced by the loblolly pine and, in 
most places to the north of the Neuse river, and in many places 
to the south, this substitution has been entirely effected. 

The other trees which grow on these loams with the pines are 
the post oak, the Spanish oak and the black oak, and small hick- 
ories and dogwood. 

CONDITION OF THE FORESTS OF THE LEVEL PINE WOODLAND- 

Where pasturage has not suppressed the broad-leaf element, 
the forests of long-leaf pine on the moist loams also resemble a 
two-storied high forest. The upper story is a compact growth of 
pine, 100 to 125 feet in height; the the lower is of broad-leaf 
trees : post oak, Spanish oak, and black oak, small hickories and 
<logwood, reaching an average height of not more than 40 feet. 
In few localities is this condition now realized-^ The cover of 
pine has been broken by frequent windfalls and culling ; in many 
places browsing cattle have suppressed the broad-leaf trees, or 



FOKESTS OF THE LEVEL PINE WOODLAND. 15T 

they have been killed by fires. The loblolly pine, resisting suc- 
cessfully the fires and uninjured by cattle, has colonized either 
by solitary specimens or more frequently by groups of a few trees 
which have already reached maturity, or by thickets of yonno-er 
ones, wherever openings in the cover above enabled it to secure a 
foothold. In sections long-settled, where the long-leaf pine has 
been culled, and in long-abandoned turpentine orchards the lob- 
lolly has replaced a great part of the long-leaf pine. The mature 
loblolly pines nearly equal in height the long-leaf pine and form 
a part of the cover, beneath which groups of young trees of the 
former species can be seen in all stages of development wherever 
there is sufiicient light to permit their growth. Nowhere except 
in the limited districts protected from fire and cattle, is there any 
young growth of the long-leaf pine. This tree, once dominant 
over such an extensive area, is surely failing to reproduce itself 
and it is fortunate that a tree as valuable as the loblolly pine is 
supplanting it on these soils. The greater part of the compact 
loblolly growth to the south of the Tar river has in this manner 
gradually extended by occupying the lands from which the 
progeny of its closest competitor has been thus excluded by the 
influence of human agencies. 

To the causes which have checked the growth of the lonw-leaf 
pine on the pine barrens, fires, hogs and infrequent seeding, there 
must be added another agency which has aided in suppressino- it 
on the level loamy soils — the struggle with contesting species. As 
the cover in the long-leaf pine growth has been broken, either by 
trees being removed in lumbering or windfalls, seed from the lob- 
lolly pines in the swamps and along the streams have been blown 
in, this pine seeding more regularly than the long-leaf, and its 
seedlings have taken possession, the young plant not beino- 
destroyed by hogs, and by their rapid growth soon getting too 
large to be easily damaged by fires. Long-leaf pines, which after 
a time might have succeeded in getting a start, have thus been 
crowded out by being overshaded by the more rapid-growino^ 
loblolly pine. Under existing conditions it is impossible for the 
long-leaf pine to ever again succeed naturally in forming a growth 



158 FORESTS OF NOKTH CAROLINA. 

on the lands which the loblolly pine has thus possessed. The 
shade of the loblolly pine with that formed by the accompanying 
undergrowth of broad-leaf trees is too deep for the growth of the 
long-leaf pine seedling beneath them, even where there are long- 
leaf pines standing near that might produce the necessary seed. 

SUPPLY AND UTILIZATION OF LONG-LEAF PINE. 

The larger bodies of merchantable long-leaf pine lie in Bladen, 
Robeson, Cumberland, Moore, and Montgomery counties, the 
last being within the transitional region. There are smaller 
bodies in Sampson, Brunswick, Columbus, and Harnett counties. 
Nearly all of this has been tapped for turpentine. The total 
amount standing is estimated to be less than 3,000,000,000 feet, 
board measure, distributed so as to yield on pine lands an average 
cut of less than 3,000 feet, board measure, to the acre. 

The greater part of the long-leaf pine timber is <;onverted into 
lumber. Wilmington, the chief seat of the njanufactnre of long- 
leaf pine lumber in North Carolina, is now supplied by rafts 
floated down the Northeast and Cape Fear rivers. The manu- 
factured products go to coastwise ports and the West India 
Islands. The total shipments of long-leaf pine lumber from this 
port for 1896, amounted to about 20,000,000 feet, board measure. 

The most active lumber operations in the interior are at Aber- 
deen, Troy Junction, and near Carthage. These mills not being 
on large water-courses obtain their timber by means of small rail- 
ways which penetrate the unlumbered forest, and on which logs 
are brought in and delivered at the mills. 

Logs of great length are easily handled, and a large part of the 
timber gotten out is of large dimensions for trestleing, framing, and 
other exceptional uses. 

All railways passing through the long-leaf pine region use ties 
of this pine exclusively ; and besides, such ties are used to a con- 
siderable extent on other parts of these lines not lying within the 
distribution of the long-leaf pine. 

An explanation of the method of extracting resin from the long- 



TREATMENT OF THE LONG-LEAF PINE FORESTS. 159 

leaf pine, and the manufacture of resinous products is to be foHud 
in Bui. 5 of the N. C. Geological-Survey publications, 1894. 

TREATMENT REQUIRED BY THE LONG-LEAF PINE FORESTS. 

On such loamy soils as are suitable for the g-rovvth of the lob- 
lolly pine, and which it now occupies in a great part, it would 
probably be more advantageous to secure in regeneration a pure 
growth of that species ; or, where the loblolh^ has only lately 
begun to colonize, to offer it by protecting from fires, full facilities 
for securing a thick stand as the remaining long-leaf pine is 
removed. 

The area of unlumbered long-leaf pine lands in this State is now 
■of small extent and is the seat of active lumbering operations. 
The growth of pine is so open (the density in only a few places 
being over three-fourths of the possibility), that if protected from 
fire and hogs until after lumbered, there would be suflicient light 
for a young crop to have secured a start beneath the old pines. 
In localities in the transitional counties, where there is a heavy 
underwood of small broad-leaf trees, chiefly post oak, Spanish oak, 
and white oak, openings would have to be made in their cover in 
order to afford the young pines sufficient light for development. 
In many places where the pine has been regularly lumbered or 
culled for a great many years there is a like thick growth of small 
broad-leaf trees beneath the remaining pines, and here too the 
cover would have to be tliinned in order to give the young pines 
the necessar}^ light. In most places there are still sufficient mature 
pines standing, if left uninjured, to seed the ground after two or 
more seed-years, if the seedlings are protected. Where there are 
now no seed-bearing pines a crop would have to be artificially 
introduced by either sowing the seed or setting out young plants. 
As seed in a seed-year could be cheaply secured, and the young 
plants if set out would also require protection, it would undoubt- 
edly be more economical to introduce by seeding. The first and 
absolute prerequisite before any attempt can be made to improve 
the condition of the long-leaf pine forests is entire exclusion of 
cattle and hogs, and complete protection from fire. Laws enforc- 
ing the confinement o+' live stock will in a great measure secure 



160 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

imoiunity from the first evil and will materially tend to mitigate 
the second, as the majority of the fires which sweep across the bar- 
rens with biich destruction are purposely set to reniove dried grass 
and herbage in the spring, and afiPord cattle the tender, fresh shoots 
of the year for pasturage. 

Especially might much benefit accrue to these districts by the 
reenactment of special fire-laws for the pine barren districts, 
affixing more severe penalties for their violation; establishing for 
their execution an administrative corps of wardens and subordinate 
officers, with power to summon citizens in case of fires to assist 
in suppressing them, to inquire into their origin, and to bring 
suits in the courts against ofifenders and violators of the laws. 
Tlie present fire-law is unsatisfactory in oflfering no adequate 
means for investigation into the origin of fires, so that it is seldom 
or never that offenders come within its bounds. 

The long-leaf pine can be reproduced only from seed, and is 
adapted only for pure growth in a high forest with a rotation of 
from 80 to 120 or more years. As the tree reaches a smaller size 
and attains a less age on the highly silicious soils of the pine bar- 
rens it would be more profitable to use the longer periods of rota- 
tion, for the production of larger- sized timber, only on the better 
class of soils. It is more impatient of the shade than any other 
of the forest trees, the young seedling, even, requiring direct sun- 
light and enduring only a moderate shade, and the trees when 
once stunted by over-shading, or too much compression, never 
recover their normal vigor. 

The group system of natural regeneration certainly seems to 
assure the successful starting of a new crop with a greater prob- 
abilit}^ of success than any other. By this system groups of trees 
of considerable extent are removed at intervals through the. for- 
est, the areas from which they are removed being cut clean, and 
regeneration taking place by seeding from the adjoining trees. 
The young seedlings cannot be overshaded by the enlargement of 
the crowns of still-standing trees as is apt, to be the case in selec- 
tion cutting, and a thick stand, if the group is not of too great 
extent, more than two hundred to three hundred yards wide, 
insures sufficient lateral shade during the height-growth stage to 



•4« 



LOBLOLLY PINE WOODLAND. Kil 

cause the formation of clear holes. Dwarfed and defective trees 
passed over in Inmbering may he left until after a stand is secured, 
as seed from them will materially aid in ohtaining an even distri- 
bution of the young crop ; but they should be removed as soon as 
regeneration is assured. 

Seed for planting should be gathered in autumn, between the 
middle of October and the early part of November, care being 
taken to keep them dry until sown. If the weather is at all 
moist and warm, planting should take place at once. This will 
enable the seed to germinate and root before winter. Otherwise 
they should be kept dry until early, spring and planted not later 
than the first of April. 

Only slight preparation of the soil is needed for planting. All 
broad-leaf trees should be removed, and a plowing to destroy the 
turf lessens the danger of the young pines being choked by the 
grass. From sowings carried on at Bladenboro as experiments, it 
would seem to take about five pounds of seed to the acre, there 
being about 10,000 seed to the pound. 

LOBLOLLY PINE WOODLAND. 

The area in which the loblolly pine is the dominant economic 
tree includes the greater part of the uplands north of the Tar 
river; most of the area lying between the Tar and Neuse rivers, 
except the uplands of Edgecombe, AVilson and Nash counties 
wdiich are occupied conjointly by the long-leaf and loblolly pines; 
the basin of the Northeast river in Duplin and Pender counties ; 
the uplands of Jones and Lenoir counties and a great portion of 
the uplands of Carteret, Onslow and Brunswick counties; much of 
Columbus and Robeson ; the southeastern corner of Ilichmond ; 
the eastern part of Anson and smaller areas in Sampson and 
Bladen counties. 

The forests of this pine arc chiefly confined to the level pine 
woodland with loamy or stifi" loamy soils as were described in the 
growth of the long-leaf pine in the level pine woodland (p. 156). 

To the nortli of the Neuse river, the loblolly pine forms a pure 
forest over the larger portion of the area, as it also does in a large 
portion of the coastal counties of Carteret, Onslow and Pender, 
11 



162 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

on the extensive flats of the Lumber river and its tributaries in 
Robeson county, and on the loose moist sands of the southeastern 
part of Anson county. Over the rest of the area the forests are' 
more broken, consisting of small groves in old fields, or contain 
both the long-leaf and the loblolly pines. 

CONDITION OF THE FORESTS. 

Where unlumbered, the forests of loblolly pine are compact, 
with a continuous cover, the forest floor being good and with a 
moderately deep humus. On the best soils the trees attain a 
heio-ht of 90 to 100 feet, with trunks of 40 to 50 feet free from 
limbs. On poorer soils, especially where they have appeared 
spontaneously in abandoned fields, which are often on the lighter 
lands from the greater ease with which tilled, the trees are much 
smaller, not averaging over 70 or 80 feet in height. They have, 
however, proportionally larger diameters than taller trees and 
usually shorter boles, the growth, when young, having been so 
open that the trunks have not cleared themselves from limbs. 

This is due to a greater number of the trees being suppressed, 
more light being necessary for growth on the poorer soils. The 
loblolly pine generally forms an upper story of pure growth, 
beneath which when the pine cover is dense there is a lower 
story of dogwood, post oak, and other small shade-enduring trees ; 
or when the pine cover is open, as is frequently the case, there is 
a slightly subordinate growth of Spanish oak, black oak, and post 
oak, sujall hickory, and sonietimes black gum and other trees. 
There is often a considerable amount of young growth of broad-leaf 
shade-bearing species, post oak, dogwood, black gnm, and some- 
times black oak and Spanish oak, which survive for a longer or 
shorter time beneath the shade of the other trees, the dogwood 
and post oak on the best soils even reaching maturity. Young 
pines, however, are wanting ; and on the poorer soils broad-leaf 
tree seedlings only stand the shade, if at all, for a short time. 

Where the forests of loblolly pine have been' lumbered the pine 
shows for a few years no signs of succeeding itself, as there are no 
young pine seedlings beneath the shade of the mature pines. 
Self-sown seed, however, from neighboring trees or from under- 



MERCHANTABLE LOBLOLLY PINE TIMBER. 163 

sized ones left in hnnbering, even small trees seeding with remark- 
able fecundity and regularity, soon produce a vigorous stand of 
young pines in all open places and also beneath the light shade 
of the broad-leaf trees which often grow beneath the mature 
pines. This young stand rapidly pushes upward through 
the thin canopy to secure the light. As the oak flats are 
approached, with their more compact and taller-growing broad- 
leaf trees, it becomes more difficult after lumbering for the lob- 
lolly pine to replace itself. The rivalry between it and the com- 
peting broad-leaf trees is closer and more in favor of the shade- 
bearing broad-leaf element as the cover is less broken, until, on 
the ever-moist margins of the loamy-soiled swamps, and particu- 
larly where alluvial, the pine forms only a small proportion of 
the entire growth. It attains, however, in'such situations its per- 
fection of individual development. On the other hand, as the 
drier soils are approached there is less struggle between the lob- 
lolly pine and the broad-leaf trees ; but as soon as the porous, 
loose, sandy soils of the pine barrens are reached, the loblolly pine 
with its delicate, rather superficial root-system is unable during 
the seedling stage to supply by its roots the water passed off 
through its leaves by transpiration and it succumbs during the first 
season. 

MERCHANTABLE LOBLOLLY PINE TIMBER. 

The merchantable timber had been more largely removed in the 
eastern counties where the numerous waterways greatly expedited 
exploitation as well as facilitated shipment of the manufactured 
products. In the counties lying north of the Roanoke river most 
of the loblolly pine suitable for saw logs has been cut ; only small 
bodies attached to farms, or situated at a distance from transpor- 
tation facilities yet remain. Great quantities of timber have been 
cut during the past twenty years for the local mills, the largest of 
which are located at Elizabeth City; and even larger quantities 
have been exported by railways and towed in rafts to mills in the 
vicinity of Norfolk, Va. Timber for the mills at Elizabeth City 
is now obtained from the forests contiguous to the Chowan and 
Koanoke rivers and from the counties lying on the southern side 
of Albemarle sound. There are still large amounts of pine tim- 



164 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

ber standin,i>; in Dare and Hyde counties. The forests of Bean- 
fort, Washington and Martin counties have, however, been nearly 
exhausted. In Pitt, Edgecombe, and Green counties exploitation 
is well advanced in the loblolly pine forests near the railways and 
water conrses, while the greater part of the timber has been 
removed from Pamlico and Carteret counties. The unlnmbered 
pine lands of Beaufort county lie in the northeastern part of the 
county ; those of Craven in the southwestern part. Bordering 
the swamps in Duplin, Onslow and Pender counties are large 
nnlumbered areas of loblolly pine growth, chiefly where this pine 
has superseded the long-leaf pine ; and in Brunswick, Columbus, 
Robeson and Bladen counties, along Brown and Green marshes 
and the flats of Lumber river and its tributaries, are still large 
quantities of merchantable timber. There are smaller bodies of 
timber, rhough scarcely more than is suflicient for local use, in 
AVilson, Nash, Johnson, and the eastern parts of Wake and Anson 
counties. 

FOREST INDUSTRIES. 

The loblolly pine is tapped for turpentine only to an inconsid- 
erable extent, but the lumber industries of all of the towns to the 
north of the Neuse river and of most of the sea-board towns to 
the south of it, are entirely dependent on this pine for their logs. 
The chief seats of the manufacture of loblolly pine lumber are 
Newbern, Washington, Elizabeth City, Edenton, Plymouth and 
Wilmington. The annual cut of logs amounts to about 560,- 
000,000 feet, boad measure, less than two-thirds of which is man- 
ufactured in this State. 

The loblolly pine is not used for railyway ties, or sleepers of 
any sort placed next to the earth. Bail way ties for local use are 
made from the post oak growing beneath the pine. The dogwood 
is converted into shuttle blocks. No use is made of the small red 
oaks and other small trees which constitute the remainder of the 
forest. 

FOREST PROTECTION. 

The loblolly pine requires little protection compared witli the 
long-leaf pine. The seed is small and is not seriously destroyed 



REPRODUCTION OF LOBLOLI.V TINE FORKSTS. 165 

by animals or in other ways. Tt falls during the late autumn and 
winter and sprouts during the following; spring and by the end of 
the first season the seedlings have reached an average height of 
about seven inches. After that they grow at a rate of about eigh- 
teen inches a year for seven years, so that specimens four or five 
years old are too high to have any but the lower branches scorched 
by a fire consuming only the leaves and herl)age. The thick bark, 
too, is a great protection to even small trees. Since they grow 
on moister soils and form a deeper shade than the long-leaf pine 
which prevents the growing of grass there is less danger from 
fires. ISTot being boxed or worked for turpentine the mature 
trees are less apt to be destroyed by fires. 

Where growing on drier soils the growth of the loblolly pine is 
not so rapid later in life as in the early years and the scars left in 
the natural shedding of the limbs do not so quickly heal over, 
many of the trees being affected by fungus diseases which gain 
access through such openings. 

REPRODUCTION OF LOBLOLLY PINE FORESTS. 

In old fields and clearings within the area of the distribution 
of the loblolly pine a spontaneous growth of loblolly pine quickly 
appears, the light, winged seed being dispersed by the wind for a 
considerable distance, sometimes hundreds of yards, from the seed- 
bearing trees. The production of seed begins at an early age 
with isolated specimens, sometimes, when they are under ten 
years old, but later with those whose crowns do not receive full 
sunlight, and continues uninterrupted for a great many years. 
There is seldom a year when some trees in a locality tlo not 
mature cones, since the trees grow under such diverse conditions 
of soils and moisture. The cones, which require two seasons to 
develop, open and the seed are distributed during the autumn 
and winter after they have ripened, some remaining unopened 
until the succeeding spring. The seed retain their germinativ'e 
power' for several years, but usually germinate the first spring- 
after falling to the ground or after being planted. 

SYLVICULTURAL TREATMENT OF THE LOBLOLLY PINE. 

The selection system of cutting, <nilling, was formerly much 



166 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

practiced in the loblolly pine woods when the demand was almost 
entirely for pieces of timber of exceptionally large dimensions for 
special uses. By this method of cutting the largest specimens 
only were removed and the smaller allowed to continue their 
growth uninterruped. This was before kiln dried loblolly pine 
lumber became a feature on the lumber market and stocks of all 
sizes of this pine came into general demand for lumber purposes. 
Now clear cutting is the rule in lumbering, though much to the 
detriment of the forest. 

In spite of the naturally abundant reproductive powers of the 
loblolly pine, much can be done during and subsequent to lum- 
bering to facilitate regeneration and secure a thick stand of young 
pines. With clear cuttings, frequent seed-bearing trees should be 
left to insure a thorough and uriiform seeding of the area at as 
early a time as posssible. It is absolutely necessary to protect 
recently lumbered lands from fires, as in the event of one while 
the ground is encumbered with the tops of the felled trees, all of 
the young pines will be destroyed. Cattle do but little damage 
to young loblolly pines. 

Existing woods of compact young loblolly pines, in which the 
trees have reached a height of 35 to 40 feet, could probably be 
thinned by having the suppressed and subordinate trees removed, 
to the great benefit of those remaining, afi"ording more light to the 
crowns and stimulating rapid enlargement of the trunks. Where 
dense growth is left to natural thinnings, the subordinate groups, 
the crowns enduring a considerable compression, will interfere 
for some years with the larger and more vigorous specimens which 
are ultimately to survive. By securing thick stands, however, 
during the early stages of development and thinning at the right 
times, chiefly when the period of most rapid height-growth has 
passed, the accretion secured within a given time can be consid- 
erably increased above what it would be if the wood were left to 
aatural suppression and a prolonged struggle between trees, only 
a small proportion of which are ultimately to survive. At certain 
stages of development, however, the thick stands and the struggle 
between the trees to secure the light is necessary to cause the 
rapid pushing upward of the crowns and the formation of clean 
shafts. 



SYLVICULTURAL TREATMENT OF THE LOBLOLLY PINE. 167 

In many places where small but vigorous-growing broad-leat" 
species have succeeded after lumbering in securing possession of 
loblolly pine lands, it will be found necessary to break their cover 
in order to permit the pine, unable to endure a heavy shade, to 
obtain a foothold. On some areas not a sufficient nnmber of seed- 
bearing pines were left to thickly seed the area even in several 
years, during which time the broad-leaf trees thicken up to sncli 
an extent as to exclude the pine altogether. Where the pines do 
come up in such situation they make rapid lieight-growth and 
soon overtop the broad-leaf trees. 

Such conditions as this are only encountered on the better class 
of soils. In such places either enough pines must be left to insure 
thick and immediate seeding, or the broad-leaf trees mnst be 
removed or thinned simultaneously with, or just after, the cutting 
of the pines. A portion of the underwood, the post oak and dog- 
wood can be removed without any extra cost, the former being in 
demand for railway ties and the latter for shuttle blocks, etc. In 
many places where the underwood is not salable, its thinning or 
removal in part will be a matter of necessity in order to secure suc- 
cessful reproduction of the pine. 

An inspection of loblolly pme lands which were closely lum- 
bered 6 to 12 years ago fully shows that regeneration is imperfect 
and decidedly irregular, many places of considerable extent being 
entirely without a young growth of pine. 

As is the case with the other pines, the loblolly can be repro- 
duced only by means of seed. It is adapted for pure growth in a 
high forest with a rotation of 50 to 120 years, according to the 
dimensions of the timber desired, and the quality of the soils ; or 
it can be grown on the best grades of moist or damp loams, in 
mixed woods with the large broad-leaf species, under a mure 
lengthy rotation for the production of large-sized timbers. 

The trees,- especially when young, endure some shade, and 
during the early stages of development the crowns are capable of 
withstanding considerable compression, bait if overshaded for a 
long time are unable, when light is afforded them, to regain their 
vigor. Its easy reproduction by means of the light seed renders it 
especially adapted to clear cuttings, when regeneration can be 
s-ecured from adjoining woods. That is, it is adapted to the group 



168 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

system of natural regeneration with large-sized groups, or the 
strip system, with groups or strips not over three hundred to four 
hundred yards wide. This is the method of regeneration now 
roughly relied on over a large portion of the eastern counties, 
though the seed from under-sized and defective trees, left on the 
lumbered area, materially assist. To make certain of regenera- 
tion the strips cleared at one time should not have a greater 
width than four hundred yards. 

For planting very little preparation of the soil is required. 
Thin woods of broad-leaf trees can have loblolly pine planted 
with them if their cover is sufficiently open to admit of the growth 
of the pine, wherever the humus is not too deep, without any 
more preparation of the soil than turning over the hnmus. Waste 
places that are not naturally seeded could advantageously be 
plowed and artificially planted. Seeding can be done in early 
spring, the seed being covered by harrowing with brush, but 
should not be covered deeper than J inch. The greater part, if 
not all, of the seed will germinate the same year in which planted, 
usually in about tour weeks. About four pounds of seed are 
required to sow an acre. There are about 25,000 seed to the 
pound. The young plants must be carefully protected from fires. 

TRANSITIONAL FORESTS. 

The transitional forests, lying along the western border of, the 
coastal plain region, are formed by the overlapping of the conifer- 
ous forest of the pine belt and the broad leaf forests of the Pied- 
mont plateau region, so that oaks and hickories with the long-leaf 
pine form the greater part of the growth. These forests are best 
developed in the middle and southern parts of Nash county, the 
eastern part of Wake, and the western part of Montgomery. To 
the north of Nash county, in Northampton and Halifax counties, 
it is only occasionally along crests covered with sandy drift that 
the forests are typically developed ; elsewhere, on the more loamy 
soils, the broad-leaf element exists without the long-leaf pine, and 
is associated with the short-leaf and loblolly pines. In southeast- 
ern Chatham and southeastern Randolph counties the long-leaf 
pine also occasionally occurs along sandy or gravelly crests, but 



FORESTS OF THE LOWLANDS OF THE COASTAL PJ,A1N. 169 

the area occupied bj' it is comparatively small. The transi- 
tional forest is best developed in the western ])art of Montgomery 
county, where it forms a belt three to six miles in width. The 
trees most abundantly associated with the long-leaf pine are the 
black-jack oak, post oak, Spanish oak, and white oak, and white 
hickory ; these form a low growth, 30 to 50 feet in height, and are 
overtopped by the long-leaf pine, which is 6<> to 90 feet in height. 
In some localities the pine forms as much as one-fourtli of the 
entire growth ; nsnall}', hoM'ever, nuich less. 

The loblolly pine which is associated with the broad-leaf trees 
in these transitional counties, is very largely second growth. 

The long-leaf pine jias been extensively culled in AVake and 
ISTash counties, and but little mercdiantable timber of that species 
remains ; in Montgomery county, however, the forests are still 
intact. 

The long-leaf pine is failing to reproduce itself in these forests 
for the same reasons tha't were given for its scanty reproduction in 
its competition with the loblolly pine ; here, the competition is 
with broad-leaf species. 

All the transitional forests lie within the Piedmont plateau 
region, the forest soils being derived for the most part from crys- 
talline rocks, and are more fertile of at least better suited for tree 
growth than most of the soils in the coastal plain on which the 
long-leaf pine is found growing. 

FORESTS OF THE LOWLANDS OF THE COASTAL PLAIN. 

These forests occur on lands which are swampy or inundated 
during at least a part of the growing season, and are naturally 
separable into four divisions which differ in the character of the 
dominant economic growth : 

(1.) In which numerous broad-leaf trees, chiefly oaks, constitute 
the greater portion of the growth — the oak flats. 

(2.) In which gums and cypress constitute the chief growth 
— the gum and cypress swamps. 

(3.) In which the white cedar occurs — the white cedar swanips. 



170 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

(4.) In which the pond pine forms the greater portion of the 
growth or is the largest tree — pond pine pocosins. 

OAK FLATS. 

The oak flats border most of the gnni and cypress swamps, 
lying between the gum and cypress swamps and the level ])ine 
lands. The}' constitute abiut one-fourth of the swamp area, or 
1,000 square miles. The soils are damp or moist usuall}' deep 
loams, or more often sandy loams, generally inundated during 
spring, with a good humus and a fair intermixture of vegetable 
matter in the top-soil. 

Their growth is entirely of broad- leaf trees, in places with 
occasional loblolly pines disseminated among them, but the white 
and water oaks are charncteristic. Water and wMll'ow oaks skirt 
the flats. Swamp chestnut oak and overcup oak, Spanish oak, 
and occasional white oaks form a great part of the growth of the 
interior; with them, elms, red maple, cottonwood, and more or 
less sweet gum and water gum. These form an upper story 80 to 
100 feet in height, and of considerable density; beneath them are 
many small trees, post oak, hornbeam, and haws. 

AVhore not suppressed by browsing cattle, or the shade is not 
too dense, youijg seedlings of most of the trees are represented. 
All of the trees endure a light shade in youth ; the willow and 
water oaks least, the white and overcup oaks the deepest and for 
the longest period. In most localities pasturage is regularly 
practiced, this woodland being esteemed the best grazing-ground 
for cattle during the spring and summer, and the young growth 
of tender broad-leaf species is systematically suppressed. Pine 
and the more vigorously sprouting and rapidly growing species 
and those seeding most abundantly — cottonwood, water oak and 
willow oak — largely replace windfalls and culled specimens. 
The seed of the swamp chestnut oak, overcup and white oaks are 
largely destroyed by hogs ; the seed of the other oaks to a less 
extent. 

There is so little undergrowth, and these woods are so damp, 
that fires rarely pass through the flats or do any serious damage. 
Much of the best white oak, the several species, and Spanish oak, 



OAK FLATS. 171 

has been culled for making staves or for large-sized timber — tun 
timber — for shipbuilding, water and willow oaks or pine having 
replaced them. The soils, being fertile, extensive areas have been 
drained and put under cultivation. Where such areas are aban- 
doned the loblolly pine with sweet gum, and if seed-bearing trees 
be very near, water and willow and Spanish oaks establish them- 
selves ; the pines first and most abundantly, the others later and 
in less numbers. If not thoroughly drained, the oaks will in time 
supersede the pine or a portion of it. 

Where the soil of the oak flats becomes at all peaty yellow pop- 
lar occurs, but only occasional trees among the others. It is most 
frequent in the series of counties facing the sounds. 

In a few places in the vicinity of the coast, or near large bodies 
of water where the air is especially humid, there is a considerable 
intermixture of beech with the oaks. 

In connection with the oak flats may be considered the greater 
part of the alluvial bottom lands bordering the larger streams 
that have their headwaters beyond the coastal plain region. 
These fluvial soils are silty, a mixture of the finest clayey and sili- 
cious particles, with a varying proportion of decomposing vege- 
table matter intermixed. The silt becomes finer and the soils 
more compact as the coast is neared. On the more elevated parts 
of these bottoms where the periodic overflow is neither too fre- 
quent, or the rise of the water too deep, there is a mixed growth 
of broad-leaf trees. Variations in the kind of trees occur accord- 
ing to the depth and frequency of the overflow. 

Where the soils are drier the water and willow oaks, white oak 
and the Spanish oak with shagbark hickory form most of the 
woods; where wetter, ash, cottonwood, and hackberry are 
largely intermixed, these being replaced on the wettest soils by 
sweet gum, water gum and tupelo with cypress and some cot- 
tonwood and swamp ash. 

The white oak and ash have been extensively culled from tliese 
swamps, and merchantable cypress has been largely removed. 

These woods, when oaks predominate in them, are practically 
under the same conditions and require about the same system of 
management as will be indicated for the oak flats. The white 



172 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

and Spanish oak are to be favored at the expense of the other 
less valnable kinds of trees, which if left alone are apt to take 
their place. On the alluvial lands the species usually succeeding 
the oaks are the light-seeded sweet gum, cottonwood, sycamore, 
and, to a less extent, hackberry and loblolly pine. 

MERCHANTABLE TIMBER ON THE OAK FLATS. 

The largest areas from which the M^hite oak has not been 
severely culled lie in Bladen, Onslow, Jones and Pamlico coun- 
ties. They will cut to the acre from 40 to 60 cords of mixed hard- 
woods. Where culling of white oak has long been practiced 
water oaks have graaually replaced them, in a great measure at 
least. 

These forests yield excellent white oak timber and some *' red" 
oak (Spanish oak) of large dimensions, and suitable for milling 
purposes ; yellow poplar and cottonwood for paper-stock ; a limited 
amount of red maple, and large quantities of white oak railway ties. 

SYLVICULTURAL TREATMENT. 

The seed of such species as it is desirable to reproduce should 
be protected from hogs, and cattle should be excluded from all 
young growth, until it is too large for them to injure. 

The most valuable trees occurring on the oak flats are the sev- 
eral species of white oak and the Spanish oak, and forest manage- 
ment should have for its object the increasing of the proportion of 
these, and preventing the water oaks and other less valuable spe- 
cies from supplanting them. 

On large areas where indiscriminate culling has to a great 
extent removed ihe species of white oak, less valuable trees have 
already followed, and bat little can be done in the way of natural 
regeneration to raise the standard. Artificial re-introduction of 
the white oaks is necessary. This can be accomplished by thin- 
ning the existing wood of the least desirable species or by remov- 
ing decrepit specimens, and underplanting with acorns, preferably 
with those of the swamp chestnut oak, since in the latitude of 
this State that is the most vigorous-growing species and reaches 
the largest size on such soils. Or, the swamp chestnut oak or 



THE GUM AND CYPRESS SWAMl'S. 173 

other desired species, can be introduced gradually beneath such 
breaks in the cover as are occasioned from time to time by wind- 
falls or by cnlling. 

If the underplanting is done by seeding, and where acorns are 
abundant or can be cheaply obtained this is the pieferable way, 
being less expensive than raising young plants in nursery rows and 
then transplanting, the acorns should be gathered in the autumn, as 
soon as they have fallen ; if they are to be kept for spring plant- 
ing they should be deeply packed iri fresh sand on the north side 
of a barn or some other cool situation. If the acorns of the chest- 
nut oak are allowed to lie on the ground too long after falling, 
particularly if the w^eather is moist and warm, a great part of 
them will have begun to sprout and then cannot well be kept over 
winter. Tlie acorns of this oak are more difficult to keep over 
Avinter than those of any other, and they retain their germinative 
power for the shortest time. For these reasons it may be advisa- 
ble to sow in the autumn, though some of the acorns may be car- 
ried off by squirrels and mice, and there is a possibility that such 
as do not sprout and take root in the autumn, as most of them, 
however, will, may be carried off by high-water. 

The oak flats and the narrow alluvial .bottoms are the only 
lands in the coastal plain region which are capable of producing 
a growth of large-sized broad-leaf trees, and for this reason they 
assume a greater impoitauce than their limited area would other- 
wise seem to justify. Whatever in the way of yellow poplar or 
oak timber suitable for saw-logs, or of hickory for mechanical 
purposes, is to be grown in the coastal plain region must come 
either from the oak flats or the alluvial bottoms. 

THE GUM AND CYPRESS SWAMPS. 

The gum and cypress occupy the deepest parts of nearly all the 
swamps which have a sufficiently porous soil to permit the pene- 
tration of the deeply seated cypress roots and which are not sub- 
ject to drying out in the late summer : and even though the sur- 
face may be very dry in dry seasons, if the subsoil be well watered 
and porous, these trees may still flourish. (Plate XXI.) 



174 FORESTS OF NOKTH CAROLINA. 

They seem to be rather indifferent to the quality of the soil, 
attaining a large size and comparative thick growth on even the 
sandy soils, provided they are well watered. The presence of a 
deep hnmns which has been uninjured by fire has undoubtedly 
much influence. 

On the sedimentary alluvial soils the growth is from 110 to 125 
feet in height, and it is somewhat less on sandy soil. 

The body of the wood is formed of sweet gum, water gum and 
tupelo, with these more or less cypress, which however seldom 
constitutes as much as one-fourth of the entire growth. Beneath 
these are small water ash, and young trees of species represented 
in the dominant growth, in all stages of development. The trees 
are all shade-enduring in their youth and, probably with the 
exception of the water gum, all shade-demanding in the earliest 
seedling stages. 

It is not often that fires do damage to these swamps, as through 
the winter and spring they are too wet to burn ; but sometimes in 
dry autumns the underwood is destroyed with great loss. 

The injury inflicted by browsing cattle is slight. 

MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF GUM AND CYPRESS SWAMPS. 

The supply of cypress suitable for making either board or shin- 
gles is nearly exhausted. In the Pamlico peninsula several large 
bodies are yet intact ; scattered trees still stand along most of the 
larger streams: Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, Northeast and Cape Fear 
rivers; smaller bodies are yet to be found in many of the other 
swamps, such as those surrounding Lake Waccamaw, Big Swamp 
in Bladen county, and others. 

Except in the few places where the forests have been un lum- 
bered the cover is broken and irregular from the removal of the 
mature cypress. The thickets of water and sweet gums growing 
beneath them have rapidly pushed upward to take the place of 
the cypress on its removal. 

While the timber of the cypress is of the most excellent quality, 
its natural powers of reproduction are so limited and the accre- 
tion of the trees after the height-growth is made is so slow that 
the outlook for extensive reproduction is far from encouraging. 



WHITE CEDAR OR JUNIPKR SWAMPS. 175 

Although the cypress does not discriminate in regard to mineral 
fertility of soil, it is so exacting in regard to moisture that the 
area which is really adapted for its best growth for timber is 
exceedingly limited. The trees growing on the margins of tlie 
swamps, and in swamps where the moisture is very unequally dis- 
tributed through the growing season have a far larger proportion 
of sap than those in the deep swamps and are often seriously 
affected with hollows. 

• Although young cypress trees in all stages of development are 
to be seen scattered through the forests, their number, in com- 
parison with the competing sweet and water gums is insignificant. 
Their height-growth, however, is rapid until the trunk begins 
the formation of the characteristic short, flattened, spreading 
crown. After the attainment of the height-growth, the diameter 
growth, tlie stage of most rapid accretion, is sutficiently rapid. 
The trees at this stage have a diameter of from 14 to 18 inches, 
and are from 80 to 100 years old, and are still largely sapwood. 
The diameter-growth after this becomes gradually less, until in 
some of the oldest and largest trees there are as many as thirty 
rings of annual growth to an inch of diameter. The length of 
time required to reproduce the forests which are tiow being util- 
ized will not be less than 200 or 250 years, and many of the large 
trees in the existing forests are over 300 years old. For most of 
the purposes, too, for which the timber is used, that of the more 
rapid-growing white cedar is equally as well adapted. The area 
of such swamp land suitable for the growth of cypress is not far 
from 300,000 acres, while the area of gum swamp is over 1,200 
•square miles. 

WHITE CEDAR OR .rUNIPER SWAMPS. 

The woodland in which the white cedar is the dominant tree 
occupies small shallow swamps, " bays "; or not infrequently there 
occur groups of a few trees disseminated through gum and cypress 
swamps, or more rarely in beech and yellow poplar flats where the 
soil and moisture-conditions become favorable for the develop- 
ment of the white cedar and less favorable for that of the larger 
broad-leaf trees. 



176 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

The most extensive bodies of such swamp lie in the vicinity of 
the coast in the threat Dismal Swamp ; in the counties of Dai'e and 
Hjde ; and the Pamlico peninsula, where the cedar occurs in 
small groups in a morass, the growth in which varies a great deal 
as the amount of mo^'sture in the soil becomes greater or less. 
There are other large bays in Pamlico county, and on the tiats 
surrounding and contiguous to Lahe Waccamaw. Smaller bodies 
are scattered along the sandy bottoms of the Chowan river, and 
occupy small l)ays in Jones and Bladen counties, and the shallow 
flats bordering the clear- water streams, in Bladen, Cumberland, 
Richmond, Harnett and Moore counties. On the State's northern 
border white cedar occurs at an altitude of 100 feet above sea 
level ; in Moore and Richmond counties, at twice that elevation. 
Its further distribution to the westward is checked by unfavorable 
soil-conditions. The total area of white cedar swamp does not 
exceed 200,000 acres. 

The white cedar is confined to sandy or peaty soils. In the 
maritime counties it occurs chiefly on peaty soils, often underlaid 
by marls ; in the more inland and southern counties it is found 
along the sandy beds of small streams or the contiguous sandy 
flats subject to frequent overflow; or it occupies small depressions 
in the sandy soils of the long-leaf pine forests forming the juniper 
bays. It shuns the heavy alluvial soils. 

CONDITION OF UNLUMBERED WHITE CEDAR SWAMPS. 

On the peaty soils of the best character, especially where lying 
above beds of loam or marl, white cedar is associated with yellow 
poplar, the gums and bays, wherever the amount of moisture and 
the undecomposed organic constituents become too great for the 
growth of the oaks. On somewhat better soils it forms dense 
clumps of nearly pure growth where openings occur in the cover 
of the dominant story of yellow poplars and gums. In the depres- 
sions in the pine barren sections in the white cedar or juniper 
bays it constitutes, with the white bay and the red bay, the greater 
portion of the growth, forming a dense wood 60 to 70 feet in 
height, the crowns of the trees closely interlocking above, their 
trunks thick, straight and slender ; beneath them, and in their 



CONDITION OF UNLUMBERED WHITE CEDAR SWAMPS. 177 

deep shade, are almost impenetrable thickets of young trees and 
shrubs. The forest floor is a tiiick humus or is deeply bedded in 
sphagnum. On the sandy flats bordering the streams, trees of 
white cedar occur scattered in a rather open growth of small 
gums and bays, and reach a height of 30 to 50 feet and a diameter 
of 15 to 20 inches; the humus is thin and the undergrowth 
thickets of small bushes. 

In most localities the cedar swamps have been exploited, or the 
removal of the cedar is now^ in progress. Except where yellow 
poplar forms a portion of the wood, the white cedar is the only 
valuable tree, and it alone has been removed, all specimens usually 
being removed that have a greater diameter than S inches at the 
stump. Where the greater part of trees are cedar, the cutting is 
nearly clean, and the few small trees that are left, having very 
slender stems, are snapped off" by the tirst severe storm ; where 
there are more broad-leaf trees present, these aflord protection to 
the young growing-stock too small to cut. The bays and gums 
that are left make rapid growth after lumbering, and for some time 
retain undisputed possession ; the extremely small white cedar 
seedlings beneath them, although at flrst making slow growth in 
the shade, Anally re-assert themselves, make rapid height-growth 
and break through the cover above them, and struggle with the 
broad-leaf species for the light. If the swamps are burned, as is 
freqnently the caseafter lumbering,and the burning is not so deeply 
in the soil as to injure the roots of the broad-leaf trees, they will 
sprout vigoronsly from stool and root ; the fire-tender white cedar, 
however, will be entirely destroyed, and only after a great many 
years will it again be introduced by wind-sown seed. If the soil 
is peaty, and is very deeply burned, its ability for supporting a 
growth of white cedar may be entirely ruined. 

Only a small proportion of the area of the cedar swamps has 
been deforested for agricultnral uses, such areas being the best 
drained of the peaty soils with yellow poplar as a part of the 
growth, and such cleared lands lie chiefly in Dare and Pamlico 
counties and those counties which penetrate the Dismal Swamp. 
Agriculturally these lands are among the most productive in the 
State. A few other areas may in time be drained and reduced to 

12 



178 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

tillage, but most of the soil, both where peaty and sandy, is unsnited 
for agricnltural purposes, and the permanency of the growth of 
white cedar on it should be accepted as an assured fact and pro- 
tection and management bestowed on it accordingly. 

Fires, in dry seasons, when the peaty soil or deep humus 
becomes thoroughly dry, sometimes spread from the pine lands, or 
from farms, to the white cedar swamps and inflict severe damage, 
destroying not only the youiig growth, but much of the old, and 
burning up the soil as well. 

Extensive areas of unlumbered forests still exist in Dare and 
Tyrrell counties, and smaller in Gates, Jones, and Brunswick. 
Smaller bodies occur in Bladen, Cumberland, and Harnett counties, 
from which the largest specimens have been culled for telegraph 
and light posts. 

TREATMENT OF WHITE CEDAR SWAMPS- 

The white cedar is one of the most valuable trees growing in 
the coastal plain region. The demand for its timber, on account 
of its lightness and resistance to decay on exposure to moisture, is 
far in excess of the supply. Though exacting in regard to soil, 
its preferences are for such lands as are unsuited for agricultui'al 
uses. Its sylviciiltural treatnHMit is beset with no ditiiculties, and 
its ra]>id growth ofteis inducements c>f early returns to whoever 
produces it. Where culling can be practiced, and only the largest 
stocks removed, the largest yields of timber are secured, since the 
young trees which are too small for use can continue their growth 
uninterrupted, sheltered \)j specimens with firm trunks which can 
protect them from the wind. In only a few places, however, will 
economic considerations permit this, as the cost of cutting road- 
ways, laying trams and making sound road-beds, which has to be 
undertaken to remove this timber, is so great that the cutting to 
the smallest size that can be utilized is often justifiable. 

Where the soil is sufficiently wet, not so much shade is 
demanded by the very young plant to protect it from the sun; 
where drier, more shade is necessary. 

As seed-bearing years are frequent, and the light, slightly winged 
seed are borne in abundance, modified forms of clean cutting can 



TREATMENT OF WHITE C^EDAK SWAMl'S. 179 

be carried on which will allow regeneration beneath the shade of 
the parent trees. After the laying out of the system of roads, a 
preparatory cutting can be made in which most of tlie larger 
specimens can be removed, being selected as uniformly as possible 
so as to distribute the light below evenly. Then two, three or 
four years later all of the remaining trees which can possibly be 
utilized can be removed, waiting though until after there has been 
a sutficiently large yield of seed to produce a thick stand of seed- 
lings in the light shade caused by the breaking of the cover of 
old trees. The young seedlings the second year after they have 
sprouted will be able to endure full sunlight. 

There is no doubt but that the area of white cedar growth can 
be u)uch extended by introducing it artificially in localities which 
have a suitable soil, but liave a growth of bays and large gums, 
which by their somewhat superior growth have natural) v been 
able to exclude the white cedar. The ])roportion of it can also 
be increased in situations where it already grows by removing 
competing species, — bays and gums, and permitting the cedar by 
natural seedings to take their place. 

Artificial propagation must be by seed, and as has been sug- 
gested, must be carried on :n the shade of some other tree to protect 
the young seedling from too ra])id evaporation during the first 
summer and autumn while the root-system is as yet comparatively 
undeveloped, shallow, and insufficient to supply water as rapidly 
as it passed ofl" by transpiration. The seed, which are borne in 
small l)erry-like cones, are very small and slightly winged. The 
cones should be gathered in the early autumn, before they have 
opened or fallen, and while the seed are yet in them, kept 
through the winter in a place where they M'ill not dry out, and 
planted the next spring by sowing broadcast beneath the trees 
that are to serve as protection to the young plants. 

THE POJSD PINE POCOSINS. 

These, as the name implies, have the pond pine as the distinc- 
tive growth. With it are the white bay, red bay, and loblolly 
bay, and less frequently small black gums and loblolly pines. 

During certain seasons of the year these pocosins are swamps 



180 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

or semi-swamps. When tliey occupy the summits of the divides 
between watersheds, as is the case with some of the largest, they 
are poorly drained and often wet. They include two classes: 
(1) Those having a primarily pauperized soil of coarse sand, or 
of finer sand, silty, and more compact. (2) Those having an 
impervious stratum of clay, silt or hard-pan underlying the top- 
soil and preventing percolation of the water to underground 
streams or its exit by subsoil drainage. The latter may have 
soil rich in nutritive elements though eminently unproductive. 
During winter and spring such soils are saturated ; during sum- 
mer and autumn, from inability of subsoil moisture to rise to the 
surface through the impervious layer, they are exceedingly dry. 

The largest areas of such swamp lie in Bladen, Craven, Jones, 
Pamlico, Tj'rrell and Washington counties ; while a considerable 
portion of the Dismal Swamp, in the northeastern corner of the 
State, has a soil and growth of this character. 

The forest, even in the best condition, is exceedingly open and 
thin, there being an irregular growth of pine 40 to 60 feet in 
height, the mature trees averaging about 14 inches in diameter, 
and a denser underwood of small white bay, red bay and loblolly 
bay, almost impenetrable on account of the thicket of the gall- 
berry, huckleberr}^, and species of Andromeda and similar shrubs 
beneath them. Where the soil is of better quality, either more 
fertile, or because the impenetrable substratum is deeper beneath 
the surface, there is more pine, often a considerable part of it being 
loblolly, and the underwood is less dense. Where the soil is least 
fertile there is least pine and a denser thicket of shrubs. 

Next to the long-leaf pine the pond pine is less exacting in 
regard to fertility of soil than the other pines, growing, in many 
places, on the soils which if dry the long-leaf pine would occupy. 
The young plants of the pond pine will endure a considerable 
shade for many years. When young specimens are accidentally 
broken, eaten off by cattle, or top-killed by fire, they sprout 
freely. During dry seasons conflagrations sometimes consume 
the shrubby underwood, destroying much of the timber. When 
the pines are thus burned out, the white bay puts forth abundant 
suckers, forming dense thickets, and the red bay numerous shoots ; 



FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU REGION. ISl 

the pine, however, in time returns. Although seed-years are fre- 
quent, the crop is usually small. The cones remain attached to 
the limbs for a long period, often retaining the seed for several 
seasons. The seed retains its germinative powers for many years 
and may sprout the spring of the first or second season after fall- 
ing to the ground. As the trees do not grow in thick stands, they 
fail to clear their stocks until of a large size. Through the dead 
branches and knot-holes many rot-causing fungi find entrance. 
Many large trees are unsound from this cause. 

Thi^ pine produces very little merchantable timber, though if 
fires are kept from destroying them the yield would not only be 
larger but of a better quality. In a few limited districts a con- 
siderable part of the saw-logs are from this species. It is chiefly 
of importance on account of the large areas in the State on which 
it occurs as the only timber tree. 

FORESTS. OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU REGION. 

The difterences in the character of the forests of the Piedmont 
plateau region are the results of the influence of variations in 
the quality of the soils, and in the altitude of the surface 
above the sea level. The precipitation is nearly the same 
in all sections of the region, and there is very little difl'er- 
ence in the relative humidity between even extreme localities 
within its limits; so these factors exert only unimportant influ- 
ence. The variations in elevation, too, are so gradual through- 
out the greater part of the region as to afi'ect only slightly 
the composition of the forest, except when those of extreme 
distances are compared ; but on the southeastern border, on the 
abrupt rise marking the transition to this region from the coastal 
plain, these forests contain certain species which are representa- 
tive of the latter region, the distribution of some trees extending 
even much further to the westward ; while other species charac- 
teristic of the sylva of the higher mountains penetrate from the 
northwest far to the eastward, but usually occur only around the 
spurs of the Blue Ridge or the isolated peaks situated beyond them 
in the Piedmont plateau. The forests of the eastern lowlands of 



1S2 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLITSTA. 

the Piedmont plateau contain the greater number of species that 
are representative of the sylva of the coastal plain. 

The distribution of the economic forests, however, is deter- 
mined largely by the character of the soils. 

The forests of tlie lowlands are of relatively small extent and 
importance; while those of the uplands are extensive and yield 
nearly all the tiinber suitable for construction. 

THE FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT LOWLANDS. 

The lowlands of the Piedmont plateau region instead of embrac- 
ing broad swamps are confined to narrow borders of sedimentary 
origin along the streams. Their forest growth is comjiosed 
entirely of broad-leaf species except in the eastern border coun- 
ties, where occasional loblolly i)ines are found mixed witli the 
hardwoods. 

The lowland forests may be divided into (1) those in the hol- 
lows and bordering the smaller streams, where the soils are sandy 
loams containing a large proportion of organic constituents : and 
(2) those contiguous to the larger and more slowly flowing si reams' 
which are bordered by flats having silty soils, containing more 
clayey ingredients and less vegetable matter than those of tlie l»ot- 
toms of the smaUer streams. These two classes of forests and 
soils, sharply defined where a small stream flow^s into a large otic, 
gradually pass the one into the other in ascending the rivers. 

The changes in the character of the growth along the larger 
streams take place gradually as the changes in the composition of 
the soils, there being usually, no abrupt transition in the kind of 
growth of different j)ortions of the some swamp, as occurs in the 
swamps, of the coastal ])lain region. Many species, abundant 
along the lower edge of the region, the southeastern, become less 
frequent as the streams are ascended ; others, less common to the 
eastward, increase in number as the soils become more loamy and 
the Blue Ridge-is approached. 

The loamy alluvial lands contiguous to the smaller streams 
have in all parts of the region very nearly the same kind of growth: 
beech, red oak, and white oak, maples and yellow^ poplar, whrle 
witli these are associated maiiy smaller trees: the hop hornbeam, 



FORESTS OF THE J'lEDMoNT LOWLANDS. 183 

nmbrella-tree and dogwood, which sometimes are sufficiently 
numerous beneath the deep shade of the more lofty trees to 
form a thin underwood. As these soils, iiowever, become nt all 
silty the sweet gum and black gum, overcup and swamp chestnut 
oaks, and other trees which are more representative of the forests 
along the larger streams gradually become cons])icuoiis : >u])- 
planting. first the beech and red oak, then the white oak and 
yellow poplar, and finally entirely taking their place. 

The body of the forest on the silty or mud alluviniu of the 
larger streams is generally formed of sweet gum and black gum, 
bitternut, overcup oak and swamp chestnut oak. sycamore and 
hackberry. Of these trees the black gum, bitternut and syca- 
more are uniformly distributed throughout, although nowhere 
abundant or forming a conspicuonsl}^ large portion of the 
growth; they extend beyond the contines of the Piedmont 
plateau and enter into the composition of the forests of the moun- 
tain region. The elms, hackberry, and sweet gum, on the other 
hand, become smaller in size and less frequent to the westward, 
until on the table-land west of the Blue Ridge they become rare 
trees, occurring only in the basin of the French Broad river and 
along the larger streams to its southward. The overcup oak is 
found westward but little beyond the limits of the loblolly pine in 
Granville county, but in Anson county it makes a broad sweej) to 
the wist, and extends up the valley of the Yadkin riv< r, as far 
as the eastern parts of Davie and the southern portions of Yadkin 
counties ; while the swamp chestnut oak extends west to the Broad 
river in Cleveland county and north to Granville and Davie. To the 
eastward it is the red maple which is the (diaracteristic maple, 
while the sugar maple occurs with it in cooler places as the alti- 
tude increases, extending down to about 500 feet at)ove the sea 
level. With these trees in the eastern border counties occurs the 
loblolly pine; and very often as far to the west as Lincoln county 
the water and willow oaks*are found ; less frequently the Texas 
red oak, and in a few places the big shagbark hickory. On the 
extensive flats of the Neuse and its tributaries, and on other 
streams in this portion of the State, though to a less extent, the 
shag1)ark hickory becomes one of the most conspicuous and 



184 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

abundant trees, while with it in a few localities is found the 
small shagbark. 

Beneath the taller trees, no matter what kind, especially where 
the cover is somewhat open, are the hornbeam with the thorns and 
haws, and often papaw. 

To the eastward a few broad flats occur, the soils of which 
remain moist or even wet, but are rarely inundated, and these 
are covered with a growth of water oak, overcup oak and willow 
-oak, and fringed with white and black oaks. The broad fiats of 
Little river in Union", Stanly and Anson counties, and those 
along some other streams in the same section of the State, are of 
this description. 

All open banks where there is full sunlight are lined with river 
birch and black willow ; and some fiats which are subject to 
frequent and periodic overflow are covered with compact groves 
of willow or birch ; or if the inundation is more prolonged, and 
this is particularly apt to be the case eastward, with thickets of 
small ash and elm. 

Besides these lowlands may be added the mud or clay deposits 
in depressions on the crests of ridges, usually found in sections 
where the soils are shallow, often where slates are the country 
rock. They are very wet during rainy weather, and for some time 
afterwards, as there is little subsoil drainage ; but during the sum- 
mer and autumn become exceedingly dry. The growth on such 
deposits is usually entirely of willow oak, black-jack oak and more 
or less post oak. 

Many of these bottoms with a loamy soil, particularly where the 
growth was the white oak and poplar, representing some of the 
most fertile land, have been cleared. Some, however, after being 
cleared, have been found untenable on account of the overflow- 
ing, and have been finally abandoned. Such lands are usually 
covered quickly by heavy thickets of birch, sycamore and elm, 
while maples and gums, whose seedlings grow well in a shade, 
soon appear l)eneath them. 

Where lumbering has been going on along these bottoms or 
staves gotten out, the debris, which is carried off by the streams, 
often collects at shallow points so as to block the. channel of the 



FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT LOWLANDS. 185 

stream, and back tlie water for some distance above, killing most 
■of the mature trees which may be on the adjoining bottom, as well 
as a greater part of the 3'onng growth, by Hooding their roots. 
Dense and fast-growing thickets of elm and ash, and rarely black 
gum, appear in such places, and continue unmixed until the bed 
of the swamp is sufficiently raised to allow other trees to grow. 

The oaks on all of these bottoms show very little young growth, 
if the water oak to the eastward and the swamp chestnut oak in 
some localities be excepted. Where oaks and other trees have 
been culled, chiefly maples and sweet gums have taken their 
places, so that the promise of the bottom lands for the future is 
not bountiful, nor do they now contain any large supply of mer- 
chantable timber. 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS OF THE LOWLANDS. 

The forests of the bottom lands have in nearly every instance 
been excassively damaged by constant pasturage. The white oaks 
have in consequence not reproduced as abundantly as other 
species whose foliage and seed are not so largely interfered with 
by stock. To the eastward and along the stiffer-soiled bottoms 
the overcup oak and swamp chestnut oak are the most worthy of 
•extensive reproduction ; to the westward and along the smallei 
■streams where the soils are more loamy the white oak is more 
desirable. Protection must be accorded these in same way as -was 
indicated in the case of the oak flats of the coastal plain region, 
:and regeneration should be secured in the same way. 

Abandoned fields and closely culled spaces on the wetter soils 
■of the bottom lands are quickly sown in a mixed growth of light- 
■seeded trees, chiefly birches, willows and sycamore, and among 
them soon appear ash and elms and other species demanding a 
light shade. 

Sometimes, especially along fence rows, black walnuts appear, 
and these are worthy of protection. In open or thin places in 
the woods, on the drier bottoms, this tree could well be exten- 
sively introduced artificially. In the western and northern part 
of the Piedmont plateau it will reach a large size, but as with 



186 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

other broad leaf trees, it must be kept in a thick stand until the- 
height -o'rowth has been nearly CDmpleted to secuie clean stems. 

FORESTS OF THE PIEDMON r UPLANDS. 

The upland forests of the Piedmont plateau region are of broad- 
leaf s|iei-ies and pine, or of belts ot« broad-leaf trees with pine- 
alternating with belts of broad-leaf trees without pine, there 
l)eing no area- in tlie original forest, if some shallow granitic soils 
be possible exceptions, which produce a pure growth of either a 
broad-leaf or coniferons tree. 

The se({ueMce of Ijelts. with and without ]>in(% continues 
unchanged in this State to the U'trth westward as far as the east- 
ern boundary of the nn>utitaiii region in Surry, AVilkes, Caldwell, 
and Burke counties; and to the southwest, crossing the Blue 
Bidge, and with the ditlerence between the pine and no-pine belts 
more accentuated from the effect: of elevation, occurs to northern 
(-Jeorgia and eastern Tennessee. • 

This succession of forest belts, or the ]>resence or absence of 
pine in the woods, depends on the variations in the cliHracter of 
the soil, as to texture, as well as in mineral constituents, and 
di-aiiuige. The belts of soil, following or coinciding with the 
geological terraines, lie. in general, northeast and southwest 
coui'ses, though the interposition of dykes, ])articularly gi'anite 
dykes, to the eastward, has produced more limited belts Iving at 
various angles to thefe ; and not infrequently this occurs when the 
order of the rock strata has been interrupted by the mere change 
in the direction of the outcrop. While in the original forest the 
areas of dissimilar growth are coextensive with certain classes of 
S(,)ils, and the sani'- is more or less true of the aftergrowth in culled 
and coppiced woodland, in t!ie great body of second growth seed- 
ling woods the efl'ects of these ditferences in soil are largely 
obscured or altogether lost. 

Tlie most radical change which is taking place in the great body 
of the woodland is the change of growth from pine and mixed 
hardwoods to pure pine, by abandoned fields being seeded in pine,, 
the place of these fields being supplied for agricultural purposes 
by farther encroachment on the hardwood areas. But where the 



SOILS OF THE PIEDMONT UPLANDS. 187 

relative proportion of the pure pine cjrowth is already large, it is 
more desirable to reclear these old fields, on account of the ease with 
which these pine lands are made tillable, from the great absence 
of lateral roots in the pine growth and the quickness with which 
the stumps and roots decay in the sap trees, if cut in the spring 
when the beetles attack them, and the presence of the sap invites 
fungus diseases. 

The body of the upland forest is composed of oaks with more or 
less hickory, and in places with short-leaf pine scattered among 
them. Other trees of industrial importance enter but slightly 
into their composition. This is the composition of the oi-iginal 
forests as they now stand. The second growth, on the other hand, 
which in local cases is an exceedingly important element in the 
woodland, has pine fur xliv forest l<ody generally, and hardwoods 
as subordinate. 

SOILS OF THE PIEDMONT UPLANDS. 

The soils of these counties, unlike those of the coastal plain 
region, are very largely primary ; or at least are not secondary in 
the sense of the transported drifts of the sands and loams of the 
uplands and the alluvial deposits of th« lowlands of the east, but 
are derived from the decay of rock or rock forming material in 
situ. This material generally forms the subsoil, which is covered 
superficially, to a de])th of three to eighteen inches, by a top-soil, 
diti'erentiated by natural elutriation of the fifier, more adhesive or 
clayey j^arts, so as to be coarser in texture and not so -viti or 
brightly colored as the subsoil. This top-soil, unless its dei)th is 
ten inches or over, has very little influence on the kind of tree 
growth. 

GENERAL CONDITION OF THE FOREST. 

The woodbind presents a general view of wide stretches of for- 
est of broad-leaf trees, usually with irregular and broken cover, in 
places HiHch culled, and with no undergrowth where pastur-jd, 
and young pines or cedar appearing at intervals through them. 
This broad-leaf woodland alternates with small groves of pit)e, 
usnally rather open or thinly stocked, the pine being the short- 



lob FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

leaf and scrub pine ; or sometimes red cedar replaces it, or there 
are mixtures of these trees. The groves of pine or cedar are a 
joung growth which has spontaneously appeared in abandoned 
fields. In the neighborhood of the towns the groves of pine are 
of greater extent, and the younger groves which are appearing 
are more compact, the older trees furnishing abundant seed ; the 
broad-leaf wood is more restricted in extent and often largely 
formed of coppice shoots, among which many seedling pines 
appear when old pines are within seeding distance. 

The original forest lands may be separated into three parallel 
belts, neglecting for the present the numerous local variations : 
(1) a more eastern with soils from slates, sandstone and gneiss 
and forests with a large proportion of pine, the eastern jpine helt 
of the Piedmont plateau ; (2) a middle belt with deep loamy soils 
mostly from granitic rocks and supporting hardwood forests of 
the first quality, with only small percentage of pine or none, the 
hroad-leaf forest helt of the Piedmont plateau : and (3) the exten- 
sive areas of gneissic soils to the westward with smaller-sized 
hardwoods and more pine, the western pinelyelt of the Piedmont 
plateau. 

THE EASTERN PINE BELT OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. 

The forest belt lying to the eastward with the woods composed 
of broad-leaf trees and pine can be separated into three divisions 
which difier essentially in the proportion of pine in their compo- 
sition and the ability of the soil to sustain a hardwood growth 
of broad-leaf trees. There is : 

(l") A more easterly division in extent nearly coinciding with 
the geological terraine of gneisses and granites, the forests of 
which are formed of both the loblolly and short-leaf pines 
with medium-sized broad-leaf trees. This is described under the 
name of ih^ forests of the eastern granite areas. 

(2) A division abutting the above on the west, and nearlj^ 
including the Jura-triassic red sandstone formation of the geolo- 
gists, the original forests of which contain a large proportion of 
short-leaf pine, with small-sized broad-leaf trees, and a large extent 



FOEESTS OF THE EASTERN GKANITE AREAS. 189 

of yoiiDg pine, both the short-leaf and lohlolly, in pure growth, 
forests of the eastern red sandstone. 

(3) A sontheastern division with soils from slates, for the most 
part rather shallow, supporting forests of short-leaf pine and 
small broad-leaf trees, with only a small area of young pine in 
pure growth. This will be called the forests of the slates. This 
does not include the entire eastern slate area, but chiefly that in 
the more southeastern counties* of that belt, the general limits 
of which will be given in describing this head. 

Such diiferentiation, it must be understood, is merely for the 
simplicification of description ; further division might well be 
made, but these show fairly well, being natural divisions, the 
most evident differences existing in the forests and the intimate 
relation existing between them and the soils. 

THE FORESTS OF THE EASTERN GRANITE AREAS. 

The northeastern counties of the Piedmont plateau region, 
Franklin, Warren, Yance, and the northern and central parts of 
Wake, with rolling surface, have generally grayish and loose tojj- 
soils, frequently gravelly, especially along ridges, from the detritus 
from numerous quartz veins, and red or reddish subsoils, deep, 
fresh or moist along hillsides, but often coarse-grained and porous. 

The body of the forests is formed of post oak, black oak, white 
oak and Spanish oak, with a considerable intermixture of white, 
small-nut and pignut hickories, and, in most places, short-leaf 
pine. The larger forest pines have, however, been largely 
removed. Along the hollows and cooler slopes, mixed with the 
white and black oaks, are the northern red oak and yellow poplar, 
yielding a low grade of lumber, red maple and some ash; along 
the drier crests there is more post oak and often an increasing- 
proportion of black-jack oak. 

The woods around many of the towns, periodically cut over or 
heavily culled for fuel, are rapidly deteriorating into mere post 
oak and black-jack oak coppice, with, if fires are excluded and 
there are seed-bearing pines near by, an ever-increasing propor- 
tion of the short-leaf pine. 

* Largely the Monroe slates. See Bull. 3, N. C. Geological Survey, 1896, p. 36. 



190 FOKESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

While the greater portion of the original growth of short-leaf 
pine has been removed, there are now large areas of wood, either 
in a pure stand of short-leaf pine, or that species mixed with 
the loblolly pine, especially on the lower or moister lands ; and 
these areas contain a considerable amount of merchantable tim- 
ber, though usually of a small size and yielding only sap lumber. 
The re-growth pine is usually at its best when growing on hill- 
sides in culled woods with white and black oaks, where rapid 
development is secured, and tall and straight stocks formed. That 
which has colonized old fields and there formed a pure growth is 
straight-stenjmed if the stand is sufficiently thick; but the fields, 
first taken in thick sod of tall grasses, are usually burnt many 
times while tiie trees are yet small, and the growth, being thus 
kept thin, continues as it matures open and scrubby, while the 
trees have short boles. Below the pine, post oak and small hick- 
ories (especially white hickory) appear, and where the soil is at 
all moist or stifi" the dogwood spreads. 

The loblolly pine when in this re-growth, here and as far west- 
ward as its distribution extendr^, does not do well after ])assing 
into the pole-stage, if it is growing on dry, sandy or gravelly 
uplands ; either it sj^reads out, and becomes short-stocked and 
limby, if an abundance of light is aftorded, or, if that be denied, 
soc.n dies out. 

Although the woods of these eastern granite areas have long 
been culled, they are still yielding much merchantable building 
material, besides fencing-timber, railway ties (chiefly from the 
post oak and white oak) and large amounts of fuel, both of pine 
and hardwoods. 

A considerable (juantity of yellow poplar and some ash is 
exported from these area^ for the manufacture of pulp, while one 
local paper mill employs ash for this use. 

There are several small mills sawing the second growth short- 
leaf pine, and a few sawing the original growth. 

TREATMENT REQUIRED BY THE FORESTS OF THE EASTERN GRANITE AREAS. 

These forests are in most places capable of producing oak tim- 
ber of considerable size, except along the summits of ihe hills. 



FORESTS OF THE EASTERN RED SANDSTONE BELT. UU 

where the dry and coarse gravelly soils are n)ore suited fur pine 
than the larger and more exacting broad-leaf trees. Cattle have 
for a nnmber of years been excluded from the greatest portion of 
the woodland in a considerable part of this area, and the beneficial 
•effects of this is evident in the thicker undergrowth. Tiie black 
oaks, particularly the black-jack and the Spanish, are generally 
increasing more rapidly than the M'hite oak, and do not seem to 
be dying out so rapidly as in counties farther west. 

The very large areas of loblolly pine growth in old fields should 
be favored when it is on moist soils or loose loams: but on all 
stiifer or drier soils that of the short-leaf pine should be favored. 
Thinnings might advantageously be carried out for each of these 
•species, as will be described further on. 

Along all gravelly ridges mature seed-bearing pines should be 
preserved as seed-trees, and the proportion of pine in the small oak 
growth on the crests increased ; on the more fertile soils of the 
slopes and along the borders of the hollows the pines reach their 
largest size, but the competition there with tlie broad-lraf trees is 
such that it is only occasionally that a pine can succeed in I'each- 
ing maturity if it spring up among the broad-leaf trees. 

FORESTS OF THE EASTERN RED SANDSTONE BELT. 

Contiguous on the southwest to the granite areas in Granville 
and AYake counties just described, and extending southward 
through Durl'.am, the eastern parts of Chatham, Montgomery and 
Anson counties, are the samiy loams yielded b}' the Jura-trias red 
and brown sandstones. This belt or terrain varies from S to 16 
miles in width, and though its surface is generally undulatino- it 
is broken and rugged only in the few places where sandstone 
ridges occur, as in portions of Chatham, Moore, and the southern 
part Anson counties. 

The soils vary from loose coarse-grained sandy loams to stifl' 
fine-textured loams, the latter being generally confined to river 
bottoms. They are usually brown or gray in color, with charac- 
teristic brown, purplish, or terra-cotta-colored, stififer subsoils; 
usually deep, but in spite of their depth ill-suited for tree growth. 



192 FOKESTS OF NOETH CAROLTNA. 

Under denudation they wash badly, and all the finer and more 
silty soils bake in drying. 

On the flatter lands the forests are formed of small-sized trees. 
In the original growth there is nsually an npper dominant story 
of short-leaf pine from 50 to 70 feet in height, with an underwood 
of post oak, Spanish oak, black-jack oak, white oak, and white 
hickory. This often merges into post oak and blackjack oak 
flats ; or where the soil is stiff'er and the country more rugged 
better oaks are to be found along the slopes and in the hollows." 
The original growth has been largely removed. (Plate XXII.) 

In, the southern portion of Granville, the southwestern part of 
Wake, and Dnrham, and the eastern part of Chatham counties 
are large areas of abandoned agricultural lands under cover of the 
short-leaf and loblolly pines. The pine may be seen in all stages 
of development, though in one grove all trees are about the same 
size. The loblolly is for the most part confined to the lower or 
flatter lands, the short-leaf to the better-drained soils and those 
situated at a distance from large streams where there are the seed- 
bearing trees of the loblolly pine. In many places the tw^o pines 
occur mixed ; but the loblolly generally displaces the short-leaf, 
growing more rapidly and enduring greater lateral compression 
and shade than the latter. On the driest soils, however, the 
short-leaf finally outgrows the loblolly and prevails. Much of 
this pine is of good stand and has tall and straight bodies free 
from limbs, and this is more true of the loblolly pine groves than 
of those of the short-leaf; but much more of it has been thinned 
by repeated fires, and is capable of yielding but little wood except 
for fuel. The floor is generally covered with a thick sod of 
broom-grass. Only a few broad-leaf trees appear spontaneously 
beneath these pines ; those which do occur are chiefly post oak, 
white hickory and dogwood. 

In Anson county there remains but little of the original forest. 
North of AVadesboro the soil is a gray, sandy loam, rolling and 
moist, covered with a generally compact growth of the loblolly 
pine, which is of fairly uniform size ; high poles or small-sized 
mill-timber, where large tracts of cotton lands were simultaneously 
abandoned in the period between 1861 and 1868, and have not 



N. C. GEOLOGICAIi SURVEY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE XXII. 




MIXED PINE AND HARDWOOD FOREST OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU REGION 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS OF THE SANDSTONE BELT. 198 

since been re-cleared. Beneath this loblolly pine there is very- 
little hardwood growth. South of Wadesboro the topography is 
more rugged, and the soils are stiffer, and along the crests and 
npper slopes often shallow. Everywhere it has been badly eroded. 
The short-leaf pine holds possession of the large extent of old 
iields, with, in some places, a small proportion of loblolly pine inter- 
mixed. The growth is open and stunted and in many localities 
dying out. There is little underwood and a consequently poor 
floor. To the eastward along the Pee Dee river, lie the light 
loams of the long-leaf pine belt, on which at the present time in 
Anson county, there are not over 3,000 acres of good standing- 
pine. The remainder of the long-leaf pine lands in this county, 
as has been said, are covered, where the soils are dry, with small 
broad-leaf trees, chiefly post oak and black-jack oak ; or where 
the soils are moist with an open, spreading growth of the loblolly 
pine. 

The greater part of the woodland of these counties, possibly as 
much as two-thirds of it, is in young groves of pure pine. The 
so-called "forest" pine has been nearly removed; some is yet 
held in a few places. There are considerable areas of small-sized 
short-leaf and loblolly pine timber suitable for milling purposes, 
making sap lumber. Only a little of it has been cut, that chiefly 
for making tobacco tierces. From the broad-leaf trees (the white 
and post oaks mainly) hoops and staves and railway ties are made. 
Some dogwood is gotten out for shuttle-blocks. There are few 
wood-working industries, and these are chiefly saw mills, sup- 
plying in part the local demand. 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS OF THE SANDSTONE BELT. 

The moister soils are capable of producing loblolly pine suitable 
for saw-logs, and medium-sized white and Spanish oaks. The 
drier soils can grow rather small-sized trees of the short-leaf pine, 
post oak and small-sized white oak. 

Protection from fires is needed ; browsing cattle do only slight 
damage, except where there is a very large proportion of broad- 
leaf trees. All young short-leaf pine appearing in lumbered 
woods should be protected. 
13 



194 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

The thick groves, particularly those of the loblolly pine, 
might well be thinned. Yery lightly at first, if the stand is very 
thick, and the thinning repeated after several years. If the 
stand is not so thick a correspondingly light cutting will be 
required. Seeding pines should be left around every cultivated 
field v^^hich in time may be abandoned, so that when cultivation 
ceases it may quickly be seeded in self-sown pine seed, and the 
young pines serve as a protection to prevent the washing away 
of the soil as so much of it is now destroyed. 

The loblolly pine can be grown in a pure forest on all the 
moister soils of this division. The short-leaf pine does well in a 
pure growth on the better soils. On the poorer soils all the 
groves of untended trees now have too open a stand. This may 
be due entirely to external influences; in many places it is 
evidently traceable to fires. If this be due in certain cases to the 
natural thinning out of the pine on such soils as the trees become 
of large size, in all such cases underplanting will have to be 
resorted to. 

FORESTS OF THE SLATE SOILS. 

The geological formation of crystalline schists and slates, which 
extends from Person county southwestward to Union, yields two 
extreme types of soils, each supporting characteristic growth. 
The first of these to be here described is the less suited for the 
growth of trees, and has woods of pine and small broad-leaf trees ; 
the second produces woods of broad-leaf trees of a larger class and 
no pine, and will be described further on in considering the belt 
of red and gray loams which lies next to the west. 

The first soil referred to as being a characteristic one over a 
large part of these counties is a usually shallow, close and stiff, 
yellow loam, sometimes superficially sandy, derived from gray or 
yellow slates, and is nearly confined to the southern counties : 
Randolph, Stanly, Montgomery, and Union. The topography of the 
districts where such soil is found is simple, the surface nearly fiat 
or gently rolling. Throughout it is ill-drained, and the variation 
in the growth is incidental to the thoroughness of the drainage. 
Where better drained the forest resembles a two-storied high for- 
est. The upper story consists of a rather open growth of short- 



FORESTS OF THE SLATE SOILS. 195 

leaf pine rising to a height of 50 to 70 feet; the lower etorj of 
small post and black-jack oaks, with more or less Spanish and 
white oak and white hickory, has an average height of 40 feet, 
individual trees acquiring a diameter of 14 to 18 inches. The 
trees are often shrubb}', and there is very little young growth. 
As the soil becomes poorly drained the pine decreases, uutil on 
the " willow oak flats " the growth becomes restricted to black- 
jack and post oaks as a lower story, slightly overtopped by willow 
oaks, a growth capable of yielding only a limited number of ties, 
and felloe and hub-material. 

In Davidson, Stanly and Union counties mines have been worked 
for many years, requiring large amounts of fuel and posts which 
have been gotten from the neighborhood. Such deforested dis- 
tricts are now generally covered with a coppice of good stand, 
often with many young pines and some seedling oaks intermixed. 
Along many of the river hills through here thickets of the scrub 
pine may be seen. It appears to be spreading eastward from the 
granite knobs above along the rivers, occasional trees yet being 
seen in culled or coppiced woodland as far to the eastward as 
Orange county. 

There is a comparatively large part of the area of these coun- 
ties in forest and only a small amount of second growth woods ; 
and as the woods have been but little culled a correspondingly 
large amount of merchantable timber, pine in places and oak suit- 
able for ties and wagon-material. These forests have in many 
places been badly injured by frequent and destructive fires, but 
during late years the woods have been better protected and the 
adoption of laws requiring the confinement of live stock in several 
of the counties has tended to diminish the evil and at the same 
time improve the general condition of the woodland. 

The soils of the first division are on the whole too shallow to 
make large-sized broad-leaf trees. The most valuable tree is the 
short-leaf pine ; next the post and white oaks and white hickory 
and dogwood. The pine will make medium-sized mill-logs ; the 
oak scarcely more than railway ties and smaller material. 

Fires should be rigidly excluded, as their damage to young pine 
is great. In most places cattle should be excluded. Improve- 



196 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

ment cuttings could be advantageously conducted throughout 
nearly this entire section, defective pines being removed and old 
black oaks and Spanish oaks that are interfering in any way with 
young growth of more valuable species. The proportion of pine 
can be largely increased in such soils as are sufficiently deep to 
permit its growth, the amount of post oak increased on the crests 
of ridges, and of white oak on the slopes and better soils. 

THE DECIDUOUS FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. 

Beginning in Mecklenburg county and extending northeast 
through Cabarrus, Rowan, Davidson, Guilford, and Caswell coun- 
ties and west to the middle parts of Davie, Yadkin, and Rock- 
ingham counties are red and gray compact loams, sometimes 
loose, rarely sandy, derived largely from gneissic or granitic 
rocks ; and with these may be included the loose loams of Orange, 
Granville, and Alamance counties, and the stiff red loams of 
central Iredell, middle part of Lincoln and Catawba counties, and 
the loose and sandy red and gray loams of southern Cleveland 
and Rutherford counties. This territory embraces the great body 
of the fertile upland soils, both stiif and loose, of the Piedmont 
plateau. 

The forests were originally of the first quality, consisting of 
compact-growing hardwoods, oaks, and hickories, with pine dis- 
seminated only on rocky or sandy soils along the crests of hills. 
They differ from those lying to the eastward in the almost total 
absence of the short-leaf pine in the original forest, the rather 
limited area of young pine in pure growth, and the presence in 
many sections of the red cedar and scrub pine as the old field 
growth. 

FORESTS OF THE COMPACT RED LOAMS OR " RED CLAYS." 

The stiff red soils, the so-called " red clays," derived from 
hornblende-bearing rocks are fertile, and are usually free from 
stones. The soils are in narrow terraines, two to twelve miles 
wide, lying in a northeast and southwest direction, the largest 
extending from Charlotte to Concord, with a length of about 



FORESTS OF THE RED CLAYS. 197 

thirty-five miles. Other extensive bodies are at Salisbury and 
Lexington ; several smaller are in Guilford county, and a large 
body extends through central Alamance and Orange counties, 
and the northwest part of Person county. Besides these bodies 
are the areas in Catawba, Lincoln, and L-edell counties already 
referred to, and smaller areas in other portions of these counties. 

The forests of the compact red loams are composed of black and 
white oaks, white and small-nut hickories with small intermixture 
of Spanish oak, and along the crests of the ridges, of post oak; 
but on lower hillsides and steep north slopes the yellow poplar, 
northern red oak, shagbark hickory, and white ash also occur. 
These trees in the most favored situation form a forest whose 
canopy is raised 90 to .100 feet, and the trunks which support if 
are free from limbs for 40 to 60 feet. Beneath these trees where 
there has been no pasturage there is in many places a heavy 
undergrowth of dogwood and young trees. The wooded land is 
for the most part distributed among small farms, and much of it 
has been heavilv culled of the white oak for buildino; and fencino;- 
material, and in places the Spanish oak has been removed for the 
same uses. Where such culling has been done and the woodland 
pastured at the same time, the growth has remained open and 
there is no undeTwood : and although in many such tracts no pas- 
turage has been permitted for the past five or ten years, the 
reproductive power of the black oaks seems to be so impaired, 
possibly from the dry and impoverished floor, that seedlings are 
infrequent and small, and few young black oaks are to be found in 
the undergrowth now appearing, which consists of dogwood, 
hickories, haws, and young white oaks. There are still many 
fine bodies of hickory, although much has been cut from these 
lands for numerous local buggy and spoke factories, and much 
has been exported in the log. 

Old fields on the compact red loams are not frequent ani they 
are either tardily taken by pine, the seed being borne there from 
trees at a distance on other soils, or sometimes they are taken by 
thickets of sassafras, sumach or by persimmon, and in a few local- 
ities by red cedar. Sometimes, however, a growth of mixed 



198 FOEESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

broad-leaf trees, whose seedlings are light-bearing, appear, Span- 
ish, post, and white oaks, white hickorj', dogwood, and sourwood, 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. 

These forests are capable of yielding large-sized oak and hick- 
ory timber. The white and black oaks are the most valuable 
trees growing on these soils, and are better adapted to them than 
the others; the Spanish oak is less suited. Of the hickories the 
smallnat and the white make the most rapid growth and thrive 
better on this stiffer soil ; the small-nnt on the shadier slopes or 
where the stiffest soils prevail ; the white where the soils are drier 
or not so stiff. The short-leaf pine will attain a large size and 
make exceedingly rapid growth, either in growth with other trees 
or when growing alone. 

Browsing cattle and hogs should be excluded, and fires, which 
at present are of seldom occurrence, should be guarded against. 
Where the woods have not been pastured there is usually a heavy 
stand of young trees beneath the old ones, and generally of the 
same kind, although not by any means in the same proportion. 
There are great numbers of white oaks, especially four-year-old 
seedlirhgs, and thickets of saplings, from the two latest heavy masts^ 
around and beneath seed-bearing trees ; and this young growth 
is most promising. Defective old trees, or objectionable species, 
black gums, scarlet oak and other trees of less value wliich by 
their shade are interfering with such young growth should be 
removed, and if it will pay to turn them into cord-wood they 
should be cut up and hauled out, as little cutting and injury being 
inflicted on the young growth as is possible. 

There is in some places much mature timber: when it is post 
oak, chiefly suitable for railway ties; when white and black oaks, 
it will yield small-sized milling timber, and this is often standing" 
to the great detriment of the thick young growth beneath it, and 
might well be partly removed to give the young growth an oppor- 
tunity for development. 

Where pasturage has been uninterruptedly practiced for man}^ 
years and the woods are open beneath, there being no underwood 
of young trees, an absolute exclusion of cattle is demanded in 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. * 199 

order to secure the regeneration of a new crop beneath the old 
trees. Where lack of grazing lands makes woodland pastnrage 
necessary, the plan of utilizing one-half of the woodland for grazing 
until the young growth in the other portion becomes too large to 
be injured by cattle, and then turning the cattle into that, while 
the pastured area is permitted to rest and secure a new growtli, 
could be adopted. Wh'ere there are yet many black oaks, white 
oaks and hickories standing, they can be allowed to naturally seed 
the ground, and the seedlings from them form the new wood. 

In places, however, these species are nearly wanting, or the 
white oak has been largely removed, so that if a new crop were to 
be naturally regenerated beneath the remaining trees it would be 
formed largely of little-desired species. Underplanting with the 
white oak, and retaining the old cover for several years, and then 
removing it after the young white oaks have formed thickets so 
as to shade the ground, is here recommended. The most naked 
spaces, without any cover at all, might well be sown in the short- 
leaf pine. 

Some localities show absolutely no signs of young growth of 
broad-leaf trees except such kinds as are neglected by browsing- 
cattle ; the old trees which are standing have passed their matur- 
ity, their tops are decaying, the trunks are often hollow, and their 
vigor is constantly lessening from the free access of the sun to the 
soil around' their roots. Any kind of a young growth in such sit- 
uations will be valuable in protecting the soil from washing and 
preventing the further decay of the old trees by shading th.eir 
roots. Nearly all of this thinned wood has more or less young 
short-leaf pine in it which is rapidly increasing, being passed over 
by cattle. 

THE FORESTS OF THE LOOSE GRAY LOA:NtS. 

The forests of this division cover the greater portion of the sec- 
tion of the Piedmont plateau which lies between Rutherford and 
the southeastern part 'of Mecklenburg, on the south and west, 
and Yadkin, Rowan, Caswell and Orange counties on tiie north 
and east; within this division lie the smaller areas of compact red 
loams with their somewhat different 2:rowth. There is not always 



200 * FORESTS 01' NOBTH CAROLINA. 

a sharply defined limit between the loose gray loams and the com- 
pact red loams, one gradually passing into the other ; more often 
the areas of compact red loams have sharply defined limits. The 
more sandy soils prevail, hov^^ever, in Alamance, Orange, the west- 
ern portion of Chatham and in Person counties, in the southern 
portion of Mecklenburg, and the southern parts of Cleveland and 
Rutherford counties. 

The gray loams are loose, even sandy in places, with the subsoils 
stifter and bright-colored, deep, well drained, but fresh or moist 
and weirsuited for tree growth. In a few places they are rocky 
or even bouldery as in portions of Orange and Alamance counties. 

In general, the forests are quite similar to those of the compact 
red loams ; but the Spanish oak to a large extent replaces the black 
oak ; there is more post oak, and the standard of excellence is not 
so high. 

The composition of the original forest may be said to be of white 
oak, Spanish oak, post oak, black oak, white hickory, and scarlet 
oak, in relative abundance about in the order named, and forming 
over three-fourths of the growth ; beneath these trees is a selection 
of underwood, where it has not been suppressed by pasturage, which 
shows a fair representation of the dominant trees, and with these 
the dogwood, sourwood, haws, and thorns. Dogwood, however, is 
not so abnndant as on the compact red loams. On slopes facing 
the north and cool hillsides there is but little ash and 'red maple, 
and only occasional trees of the northern red oak, but yellow pop- 
lar is more frequent. 

Fine, though infrequent on the stifier soils and confined to the 
ridges, forms on the looser a not inconsiderable .element in the 
woodland, from j to 2 per cent, of the mature trees often being 
pine, these being large and tall, but scarcely overtopping the hard- 
woods. 

Where the soil is poor and sandy as in southern Mecklenburg, 
there is a reoccurrence of the pine, post oak, and black-jack oak 
growth, with the pine as an upper story and the broad-leaf trees 
as a lower. The area of such sandy land, however, is limited, and 
it is generally largely cleared for cotton culture, with the greater 
part of the woodland hardwood coppice and pine regrowth. 



FORESTS OF THE LOOSE CRAY "LOAMS. 201 

To the eastward in Person, Orange and Alamance counties the 
small shagbark hickory is frequent along the crests ofsandy ridges, 
forming in a few places as much as 10 per cent, of the growth over 
limited areas. 

Where high hills occur with sandy or gravelly crests, and espe- 
cially if bouldery, as the river-hills along the Deep and Haw, and 
the elevated ridges in Person county which centre around Fuller 
mountain, the chestnut oak becomes conspicuous, and in culled and 
coppiced woodland rapidly propagates, seeding at an early age, 
and abundantly reproducing from stool shoots. 

Coppiced and culled woods deteriorate in two directions accor- 
ding to the kind of soil on which they grow ; if on sandy soils the 
early seeding black-jack oak and post oak increase, their seedlings, 
appearing among the stool shoots, the trees of these species becom- 
ing large enough to produce seed before those other kinds; on tiie 
stitfer red soils where the black-jack oak is wanting, the sourwood 
Increases rapidly for the same reason, it seeding at a very early 
age, especially from shoots. 

On the hillsides in culled woods many maple seedlings occur, 
ajid reach a height of 20 or 30 feet, and then die. The black gum 
does the same, small trees of this species often forming a consider- 
•erable proportion of the young growth ; but although it. reaches a 
much larger size than the red maple, and persists for afar longer 
time, it, too, is finally suppressed by more rapid-growing trees 
which are better suited for the dry soils. To a less extent the same 
is true of the sweet gum, but unless in rather favored localities its 
seedlings, which appear in many places in the .woods, die after a 
few" years growth. 

Where the soils are not too sandy or thin there is a growth of 
broad-leaf trees nearly as excellent in quality as that on the com- 
pact red loams. Its average height, however, will scarcely exceed 
85 feet, and as the soil becomes more silicious there are fewer 
small-nut and shagbark hickories and black oaks, these being 
supplanted by post and Spanish oaks ; or, if the country is rugged 
and the crests of the hills rocky and gravelly, especially if with 
quartz fragments, the scarlet oaks and pignut hickories enter 
largely. 



202 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

Thtse forests require tlie same management and care for their 
improvement, as was indicated for those of the compact red loams. 

GENERAL CONDITION OF THE DECIDUOUS FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT 

PLATEAU REGION. 

Between 80,000 and 1()0,000 acres of oak and hickory woodland 
situated in Person, Caswell, and Granville counties were burned in 
the spring of 1893. The greater portion of the mature and large- 
sized oak and hickory timber was killed ; and while the tops of 
all smaller trees were destroyed, they put forth abundant stool 
shoots so that the burnt areas are now covered with thickets of 
young sprouts. There is another large burnt area in the north- 
eastern portion of Rockingham county over which a fire passed 
about, 1875. This is now covered with a thick growth of small 
trees about twenty years old, there often being several stocks 
from the same stool so that they interfere with each other and 
prevent development. 

While at the present time, on account of the general distribu- 
tion of groves of seed-bearing short leaf pine, this species quickly 
forms a stand in abandoned fields, as is the case from JRutherford, 
Cleveland, and Mecklenburg counties north to Davie and Guil- 
ford, yet in many portions of southern Alamance, the northern 
parts of Orange, ifi Person, Caswell, and the eastern parts of 
Rockingham and Forsyth counties, the short-leaf pine does not 
rapidly take old fields, from five to ten years or even more 
being required for a thick stand to be naturally secured. 

In the eastern portion of Guilford county, and in Alamance, 
Orange, Person, and Forsyth there is a large proportion of red 
cedar associated with the short-leaf pine, in localities where the 
pine does occur in the old field growth ; but the cedar is finally 
suppressed by overshading. In some localities cedar unmixed 
with other trees forms the regrowth. This tree is also rapidly 
increasing in culled woods, but, as in the pine groves, it is unable 
to endure the deep shade of the broad-leaf trees, being of much 
slower growth than they, and is at last overshaded. In the coun- 
ties to the west of Guilford, and especially in those to the south- 
west, there is not so much red cedar. 



CONDITION OF THE FORESTS OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. 20S 

Where neither the red cedar nor short-leaf pine appears in the 
old iields, as in portions of Gnilford, in Caswell, especially in the 
valley of Conntry Line creek, in Rockingham and Forsyth conn- 
ties, and to a less extent elsewhere, the scrub pine forms a large 
portion of the regrowth in old fields, in many places forming com- 
pact thickets of pure growth ; in others, thickets of the short-leaf 
pine and scrub pine alternate. The two pines are sometimes 
associated. When this is the case unless the short-leaf pine has 
the advantage of a start of a few years growth, the scrub pine, 
being the more rapid grower, will overshade it and suppress it. 
Less frequently is the scrub pine associated with red cedar in 
these groves. 

The scrub pine forms groves of pure growth on the granite 
knolls which extend acro>s the eastern edge of Cabarrus county 
into Rowan, and the dissemination in the old fields has probably 
been from the trees on these knolls and those growing along the 
hills of the Haw and the Deep rivers, as the scrub pine is not 
found at other places in this division in the original forest. 

Probably as much as one-third of the area of this division is in 
wood, and over one-half of the wood is regrowth. A greater por- 
tion of the regrowth, over a third at any rate, is pine and cedar. 
There are besides large areas of waste lands, with almost no tree 
growth of any kind, or exceedingly thinly stocked with pine or 
oak, chiefly post oak, black-jack oak, and Spanish oak stool- 
shoots. 

There is almost no merchantable heart-pine suitable for milling. 
The local bodies of regrowth pine which are now large enough for 
small sized saw-logs will yield only sap lumber, and are not gen- 
erally utilized on this account; but there are large quantities of 
pine suitable for fuel. There is not very much oak, either white 
or red oak, which is suitable for lumber. What there is lies 
chiefly in Orange, Person, and Davidson counties; but there are 
smaller bodies in other places. Smaller white oak and post oak, 
suitable for railway ties, in most places is not abundant, many 
sections not producing enough to supply the local demand. Hick- 
ory, however, is relatively more abundant, not having been so 
largely culled for local use; numerous spoke and tool-handle fac- 



204 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

tories are now utilizing this. Tliere are few saw-mills, and nearly 
all of the building material used by the larger towns is brought 
from other sections of the State. 

THE WESTERN PINE BELT OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. 

Lying to the west of the compact red and gray loams are fine- 
grained and mostly sandy loams, usually red or reddish in color 
with a thin surface soil, usually less fertile than the compact red 
and gray loams and less suitable for tree-growth. This division 
extends from the central part of Rockingham, Iredell, and the 
central part of Rutherford counties northward and westward to 
the base of the Blue Ridge and its outlying spurs. A few local 
areas of compact red loams occur, and the original timber on these 
soils was entirely of broad-leaf trees. 

The surface of the entire division sloping eastward from the 
escarpment of the Blue Ridge is broken and rugged. The culmi- 
nating points of the divides between the rivers which here find 
their head waters are low mountain chains running irregularly 
east and west. These mountains and the groups and isolated peaks, 
lying still further to the east, the Sauratown and Crowder moun- 
tains, and Kings mountain have an arborescent growth similar to 
that on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, and their woods will 
be considered in connection with that (p. 210). 

Here, however, it may be well to say that the woods on the 
north slopes yet contain some merchantable yellow poplar in 
•some of the hollows, with ash, northern red oak, and white oak. 
The woods on tlie southern slopes, and this is especially true of 
the South mountains, the Sauratown and King's mountain, and 
the broad water-shed between the Green and Pacolet rivers, have 
been many times burned, and pine timber has been very badly 
damaged while tie and tan-bark oak has been greatly thinned or 
reduced to stool-shoots. 

The forests of this division are of pine mixed with broad leaf 
trees, of which the scarlet oak is the most abundant. It is espe- 
cially common on gravelly soils and has associated with it the 
Spanish oak, post oak, white oak and, to a less extent, the black 
oak, while along all high and sandy crests and rocky slopes the 



WESTERN PINE BELT OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. 205 

chestnut oak becomes a tree of economic consideration. There is 
not so much hickory as in tlie oak forests of the central portion of 
the state this group being represented chiefly by the pignut, white, 
and some smallnut. The sourwood becomes even more conspicuous 
than in Davie and Guilford counties, and along the hollows and 
-northern slopes there is some yellow poplar, ash and northern 
red oak. 

These woods are in a far more uniform condition than those 
lying to the eastward and are mucli less broken. There are 
broad expanses of woods, formed of pine mixed with broad-leaf 
trees, with the cover entire or somewhat broken, and dotted with 
small groves of pure pine, either the short-leaf or the scrub, in 
old fields ; or there are extensive areas of culled or coppiced 
woodland adjacent to the farms and small towns. 

Throughout some portions of the division cattle have been 
excluded from the woodland for periods of from five to ten years, 
but most parts are yet pastured. The forest floor is generally 
poor, the underwood thin or entirely absent, and the cover of the 
mature trees open. 

The original forest is from 70 to 80 feet in height, though in 
many places it will not be over 60 feet where the soils are thin 
and poor, while in hollows and on cool slopes many trees will 
measure over 100 feet in height. Considering the division as a 
whole, the trees stand in relative abundance about in the follow- 
ing order: short-leaf pine, scarlet oak, black oak, white oak, 
sourwood, chestnut oak, post oak, Spanish oak, and white hickory. 
These form considerably over three-fourths of the growth. Less 
abundant and forming the larger portion of the remainder of the 
growth are the dogwood, pignut, chestnut, black-jack oak, black 
gum, and small-nut hickory, scrub pine, and red maple. 

The culled woods show an increased" proportion of young pine ; 
while scarlet oak, chestnut oak, and sourwood are increasing in 
both culled and coppice woods, the scarlet oak more rapidly than 
any other oak. Its young growth often forms thickets in the 
open spaces where trees are removed in culling ; and in coppiced 
woodland it reproduces rapidly both by seedlings and stool-shoots. 
It is chiefly on the drier sandy and rocky soils that the chestnut 



206 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

oak is spreading most rapidly under culling, especially where the 
cutting is heavy or where the woods are coppiced ; so that large 
areas where fuel is regularly cut show a growth which has dete- 
riorated, so that while it formerly consisted of mixed oaks and 
hickory, now it is of scarcely other trees than the scarlet and 
chestnut oaks. Both of these trees, however, are well-suited for 
coppice-cutting on account of their rapid growth, vigorous sprout- 
ing, and the long persistence of the stools. 

The increase of the red maple in culled woods is also rapid. 
Under the protection of the light shade so afforded maple seed- 
lings can be found on all classes of soils from the driest to the 
most moist. On the moister soils they seem to be incorporated 
as a permanent part of the growth ; but where the soils are dry 
they grow more slowly and are overtopped by the oaks when 
eight or ten inches in diameter, put up sprouts from around the 
base of the trunk, the main stem becomes weakened and dies. In 
like manner many seedlings of the yellow poplar appear ; those 
on the drier soils soon succumb ; those on the moister persist for a 
long time, if on a north slope even becoming large trees. 
Black gum seedlings, which are frequent on the drier soils, con- 
tinue to grow for many years, but the specimens never become 
more than small-sized trees. 

The regrowth in the old fields is uniformly pine, except in a 
few local areas of compact red loams, where it may be red cedar 
or scrubby broad-leaf trees as well as pine. The pine in old 
fields is usually the short-leaf; but in some sections it is the scrub, 
especially where adjacent to the mountains, or where thickets of 
that pine occurred in the original growth, as along steep river 
hills or the thin soils near granite knolls, the so-called " flat-rocks." 
Leps frequently white pine forms the old field growth, and then 
only at the base of the mountains where mature trees of this 
species occur. Beneath pine regrowth of all kinds, unless the 
cover is exceedingly heavy, sourwood, red maple and dogwood 
appear. 

MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF WESTERN PIEDMONT PINE BELT. 

The forests of the western pine belt now yield more timber than 
those of any other part of the Piedmont plateau region, and 



MERCHANTA.BLE TIMBER, WESTERN PIEDMONT PINK BELT. 2»»7 

■exploitation is not so far advanced in them as elsewhere. There 
are many mills sawing pine and soft woods in Wilkes and the 
northern part of Alexander counties; mills cutting hardwoods at 
Hickory, Morganton, Lenoir, Old Fort, Thermal Springs and at 
other localities, while mills sawing pine are scattered through 
the entire territory. 

Several local tanneries obtain their bark supply, chiefly chest- 
nut oak and white oak bark, from the immediate neighborhood, 
but they have removed only about one-half of the available 
amount in the South mountains, and that in the Brushy moun- 
tains and on the slopes of the Blue Ridge has yet scarcely been 
touched. The largest tanneries are at Morganton and Wilkesboro. 

The largest areas containing merchantable pine lie in Caldwell, 
Burke, Alexander, Wilkes, and the northern parts of Cleveland 
and Rutherford counties. Some white pine of a low grade is fur- 
nished by the counties lying along the base of the Blue Ridge. 
It is locally used for building material, but far the greater part of 
the lumber manufactured is utilized in making shipping boxes 
for local cotton and woolen mills. The northern pitch pine 
occurs through here above an elevation of 1,300 feet, usually 
growing with the short-leaf pine and distinguished from it under 
the name of " black pine" ; and along the mountains, above an 
elevation of 2,000 feet occur occasional specimens of the Table- 
mountain pine, which finds its eastern limits on the rocky sum- 
mits of King's'mountain in the southeast and the Sauratown moun- 
tains in the northeast, though in the intervening territory between 
these two mountains and the ridge of the Brushy and the South 
mountains it is not known to occur. All of these pines afford 
merchantable milling timber. The scrub pine is abundant on 
the shallow soils of the mountains and along the Blue Ridge, fre- 
quently forming small patches of unmixed growth. The milling 
oak timber is the white, some Spanish, red and black oak ; there 
is a great deal of white and chestnut oak tie timber, but not so 
much post oak as farther eastward, the scarlet oak largely taking 
its place. 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE FOREST. 

These forests are capable of yielding short-leaf pine, which will 



208 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

on the best soils attain a height of 90 ±eet, and on the poorer a 
height not exceeding 70 feet ; and many of the soils, on account 
of their poorness, are much more snited for a growth of pine than 
of more exacting broad-leaf trees. The white and chestnut oaks 
grown on the crests of the hills will make trees large enough for 
railway ties and tan-bark but scarcely larger ; on the moister 
npper slopes the black and white oaks attain sizes which make 
them suitable for milling-timber ; on the cooler and moister lower 
slopes the white oak, northern red oak and yellow poplar attain 
moderately large dimensions and form good timber. The Spanish 
oak generally reaches only a small size and is often defective; 
and the same is true of the scarlet oak. Sourwood large enough 
to be of value commercially is usually defective. The white pine 
will certainly do fairly well in a few localities along the western 
limits of the division, and though at this low elevation it fails to 
clear the stocks, at least in the forest specimens, as it does at a 
higher elevation, it is worthy of being protected on account of its 
rapid growth. Thickets of pure growth will probably form 
cleaner shafts than where single specimens appear in mixed woods. 
The broad-leaf trees require such care as was indicated for 
those of the compact red loams (p. 198). The white pine can be 
treated in the same way as will be given for the groves of that 
tree occurring in the high mountains (p. 218). 

FOKESTS OF THE MOUNTAIN REGION. 

The differences in the character of the forests of the mountain 
region are not determined so largely either by the kind of soil or 
by the amount of moisture contained in it as are those of the 
Piedmont plateau and coastal region. Within short distances 
among the mountains there are wide variations in elevation. 
With increased elevation a rapid lowering of the average annual 
temperature takes place, and a proportional shortening in the 
growing-season ; increase in the rain-fall and relative humidity, 
and a decrease in evaporation both directly from the soil and 
through transpiration. The effect of these factors in limiting the 
distribution of certain species is more evident than that of the 
soils; though, between certain limits of elevation, changes in the 



FORESTS OF THE LOWER iSIOUNTAINS. 2<>9 

character of the soil intliience the kind of growth. It is donbt- 
fal, how^ever, if chang'es of soil in the larger mountain masses 
above 5,000 feet elevation produce any change at all in tlie kind 
of trees, the number of species being limited to those whose hardi- 
ness of crown or foliage and short growing-season render 
capable of withstanding the sudden changes of temperature to 
which they are subjected toward the summits of the higher moun- 
tains. At high elevations certain trees are to be found both along 
dry ridges and in cold swamps ; the white and pitch pines and 
black gum ; and, choosing les^ noticeable extremes of soil, are 
the red oak, hemlock, beech, birches, and sugar maple. 

The forests of the mountain region are separable into tliree 
zones or belts lying at different elevations. These may be 
described as follows : (1) The forests of the lower mountains ; (2) 
the forests of the higher mountains; (3) the forests of the moun- 
tain summits. 

THE FORESTS OF THE LOWER MOUNTAINS. 

The forests of the lower mountains lie between 1,500 and 3,000 
feet elevation. They occupy the eastern and southern slopes of 
the Blue Ridge and its outlying spurs, and the minor chains of the 
Brushy and Sauratown mountains which penetrate or lie within 
the Piedmont plateau region ; and to the westward of the Blue 
Ridge they occupy the hills and lower mountain slopes about to 
the maximum elevation given above. 

Oaks, W'hite, chestnut, black, scarlet, red and shingle, with some 
hickory, chiefly white, bitternut and rarely the shagbark and small- 
nut, with the chestnut and occasionally dogw^ood, are the chief 
broad-leaf trees. The pines are the short-leaf, pitch, Table moun- 
tain, scrub (Jersey) and the white. These form a story of vary, 
ing density, but never constituting over one-halt of the trees, 
slightly above the broad-leaf trees ; or are coordinate with them 
and fewer in number. As the quality of the soil improves, either 
as regards fertility or constant proportion of moisture, and the indi- 
vidual specimens composing the broad-leaf element reacii a larger 
size, the pines become fewer in number, restricted in kind to those 
attaining the greater size, the white and short-leaf, and are con- 
14 



-210 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



fined to the more rocky and shallow or sandy-soiled crests, and 
eventually are crowded out; either because the broad-leaf trees 
overshade the mature light-loving pines, or because their shade 
becomes too deep for the growth of the young plant. 



DISTINCTIVE GROWTH. 



The forests of the lower mountains approach in the character 
of their economic trees those of the western gneisses of the Pied- 
mont plateau. The pines, except the short-leaf and the scrub (Jer- 
sey) are usually kinds which are not frequent in any part of the 
Piedmont plateau region; the chestnut oak becomes frequent; the 
post oak and Spanish oak do not occur at all over the larger part 
of the area; and the red oak, shingle oak, and chestnut oak become 
conspicuous and valuable trees. 

The forefts of the lower mountains are separable into three 
divisions : (1) that in which the Table mountain and pitch pines 
are tlie dominant resinous trees ; (2) that in which the short-leaf, 
pitch, and scrub pines are dominant ; (3) that in wiiich the white 
pine is the dominant tree. 

TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE DIVISION. 

The area in which the Table mountain and pitch pines are the 
important pine timber trees embraces the eastern and southern 
slopes of the Blue Ridge, with the outlying spurs, from Georgia to 
Virginia, and the groups of the Brushy, South and Sauratown 
mountains. With these pines is to be found the short-leaf pine, 
which becomes more abundant as the elevation decreases and the 
soil become deeper and less rugged. Tiie slopes of this range are 
steep ; the soils are shallow loams or sandy loams, eroding rapidly 
under denudation, and, w^hen cleared, restocking slowly on the ces- 
sation of cultivation. The broad-leaf trees which are associated 
with the pines are chiefly the scarlet and chestnut oaks and the 
chestnut. These form alow, open growth, seldom exceeding fifty 
or sixty feet in height. There is no underwood, and if is only 
occasionally that young trees are found, and these are for the most 
part stump or stool-shoots from trees tlie tops of which have been 



TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE niVISION. 211 

killed by the frequent fires which ravage these forests. Old trees, 
particularly oaks and chestnuts, show many defects from these 
fires, chiefly short and limby boles and hollows. Pasturing cattle 
and ranging swine are regularly practiced ; firing is done to 
improve the grass crop and secure young stool-shoots in tiie spring ; 
and to clear oft' the litter before the fall of chestnuts and acorns 
in the autumn. Locally, white pine occurs. Their Ijoles, how- 
ever, are short, limby and frequently defective, the heartwood 
being subject to the attack of Trametes pini, which caused defective 
stocks. The Carolina hemlock, the bark of which possesses the 
same tanning properties as that of the hemlock, is confined for 
the most part to the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge. Locally 
abundant, it is found at intervals along this mountain chain, to 
the west of it on rugged cliffs along the north and south forks of 
the Estatoe river in Mitchell county ; the South Fork of New 
river in Ashe county ; the gorge of the Doe river ; and in tiie 
southeastern parts of Macon and Jackson counties, and in one 
locality over forty miles to the cast of this range, the Sauratown 
mountains. 

In the deep, narrow' hollows which indent the eastern slopes of 
the Blue Tiidge, the black walnut grew more abundantly and 
reached a larger size tharr elsewhere in this State ; brrt it has been 
largely removed, and there are now only a few small trees. Of 
the locust, yellow poplar, and white oak which grew with it, onl}' 
the white oak is still standing in large quantities. The timber irr 
the hollows, where there are few pines and but occasional hem- 
locks, has been less dairraged by fires than that of the drier and 
more exposed slopes. Browsing cattle, however, have checked 
the growth of most of the young broad-leaf trees. 

MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF THE TABLE MOUNTAIN PINE BELT. 

There is now comparatively little merchantable timber lying 
along the Blue Ridge. Locally there is w^hite pine, and yellow 
pine of several species suitable for milling purposes; and in the 
hollows some yellow poplar, white oak and chestnut suitable for 
lumber. White oak and chestnut oak railway tie-timber is abun- 
dant, and large quantities of white and chestnut oak tan l)ark are 



212 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

obtainable. Lumber mills obtaining their logs from these forests 
are in operation at Lenoir and Hickory, and smaller mills else- 
where. A tannery at Morganton depends on these forests largely 
for its oak bark. Fires have damaged these forests more than 
those of any other part of the State except the pine woods of the 
southeastern counties. 

The forests cover nearly the entire area. The farms are few 
and confined almost entirely to the narrow allnvial bottoms; a 
few clearings have been made on the more gentle slopes or broader 
ronnded crests. Some bottoms have been permanently damaged 
by washing during floods and the deposition of a heavy mnd sedi- 
ment on the surface of the loams. Old fields are seeded chiefly 
by the short-leaf, scrub and northern pitch pines ; less frequently 
by the white. Sometimes they are all mixed. Such second 
growth is, however, inconsiderable. 

The forests are capable of producing pine — short-leaf, and some 
■white — together with chestnut oak on the slopes and crests; while 
walnut, yellow poplar, white oak and locust reach a large size in 
the hollows. 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS. 

A complete cessation of the present annual firing is necessary, 
not only to insure the possibility of a vigorous stand of young 
trees, but to aff'ord protection to the standing stock. Pasturage 
should not be permitted in such portions of the^forest as contain 
young growth that can be injured. Hogs must be excluded after 
seed-years of nut-bearing trees. As there is now very little mer- 
chantable timber on the ridges, all management should have for 
its object the improvement of the general- condition of the forest, 
regarding both density and preference for the more valuable kinds 
of trees. Few of the trees on the ridges will form large merchant- 
able stocks ; their utilization extends only to small pine milling- 
timber, oak railway ties, oak and Carolina hemlock tanbark, small' 
chestnut and locust timber for posts and construction. 

The trees naturally growing here are light-demanding, except 
the chestnut, the white oak and white pine, all of which will 
endure some shade ; the chestnut the deepest and the longest, the 
white pine least and for the shortest time. 



SHORT-LEAF AND PITCH PINE FORESTS. 213 

The chestnut, chestnut oak and the wliite oak can be relied on 
for reproduction from stump and stool-shoots, the chestnut sprout- 
ing most vigorously and from the largest-sized stumps, and the 
white oak least vigorously and from the smallest stumps. The 
locust frequently sprouts from small stumps, also from suckers 
under a thin cover. 

SHORT-LEAF AND PITCH PINE FORESTS. 

The area in which the short-leaf and pitch with the scrub 
(Jersey) pine are the dominant resinous trees, embraces the basin 
of the French Broad river in Buncombe and Madison counties, 
the river-hills of the Swannanoa, those of the French Broad in Hen- 
derson county, and the lower hills in Haywood, Swain, Jackson, 
Macon, Cherokee and Graham counties, lying below an elevation 
of 2,800 feet above sea level. The surface of this area is broken 
and rugged, the. hills often steep, between them, along the rivers 
and smaller streams, lying narrow alluvial tracts. The lowest 
elevations are found on the eroded slopes of the Asheville basin 
and along the waters of the Little Tennessee river, where at the 
lowest limits the altitude is not over 2,000 feet. 

The upland soils are stiif, mostly even-grained loams, rarely 
sandy. Although generally deep and derived from disintegration 
i7i situ of gneiss, or, in Cherokee and Graham counties, slates, 
they are, on the whole, not fertile ; those of the lowlands are rich 
sedimentary loaais with much vegetable matter along the smaller 
streams ; alons; the larger streams are loams similar to those on 
the smaller ones, but more sandy and less fertile. 

The hills erode rapidly on their shoulders when unprotected. 
(31d fields, however, are generally quickly seeded in native grasses, 
which form a retentive turf, and after a longer time pines appear. 

The short-leaf, pitch and scrub (Jersey) pines are the character- 
istic conifurs. The broad-leaf trees which grow with them are 
chiefly the wliite, black, scarlet and chestnut oaks, chestnut, and 
hickory. Of these the white oak is first in numbers and import- 
ance. It forms from .1 to .5 of the entire forest, being most 
abundant along the slopes; black oaks and pine superseding it 
towards the crests ; other broad-leaf trees toward the bottoms. 



214 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

The pines form from .1 to .3 of the forest, being in greatest 
abundance in the Asheville basin and at the lower elevations. 

CONDITION OF THE PINE FORESTS,. 

The short leaf and pitch pine forest covers a little more than 
one-half of the area, and is largely of these pines mixed with broad- 
leaf trees less than one-twentieth of the forest being pure pine 
regrowth in old fields. It is divided chiefly among small farms. 
On the uplands it is decidedly irregular, the cover broken by the 
indiscriminate removal of mature trees, the young growth beneath 
representing all ages. Where pastured and burned the forest floor 
is poor and the young growth not abundant. On the best soils 
these trees attain an average height of from 60 to SO feet; on the 
poorer and along the sandier crests from 50 to 70 feet, the pines 
being the taller on the poorer soils but being overtopped or equaled 
in height by the broad-leaf trees in more fertile situations. The 
density is generally less than three-fourths of what it should be, 
natural reproduction being prevented b}' excessive and injudicious 
lumbering, pasturage, and burning. In many places the mature 
pines have been largely removed, oaks taking their places, but 
where there has been no burning many- young pines are to be seen. 
The milling poplar and oak have been largely removed ; poplar^ 
from its shade-demanding requirements, the fact that the young 
plants are eagerly sought for by browsing cattle, and the removal 
to a great extent of the seed-bearing trees, is reproducing itself 
only to a limited degree ; the chestnut, the white oak, black oak, 
and scarlet oak more freely. 

AVhere the woodland has been protected for a great many years 
the mature timber shows little damage from lires or the effects of 
pasturing; there are only a few localities, however, where this is 
the case. Black oaks and chestniits often have hollows from fires ; 
more rarely pines and white oak. 

The merchantable timber still standing is chiefly valuable as a 
source of supply for the numerous farms to which the woodland is 
attached and the small towns lying near them. 

At present the forest is about exhausted, so far as the milling 



WHITE PINE FORESTS. 215 

pine and yellow poplar is concerned. Oak and chestnut, thoiiii-h 
chiefly of a small size, are still to be obtained. 

The forest is capable of yielding milling timber, fuel, ruilwuy 
ties, and fencing, for most of which a local market can be f(»und. 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE FORESTS 

Protection from Are and cattle should be afforded where this is 
not already done. Defective trees, or those of inferior kinds, 
which are interfering with young growth beneath them should be 
removed. Proximity to farms will generally allow this to be done 
as such wood can be made use of as fuel. The gro\vth shonld be 
allowed to thicken np to restore the hnmns and give the requisite 
shade. 

Most of the land here is too broken to permit clean cuttings 
without danger of great injury to the soil. Pure growth of pine, 
on the gentler slopes could, however, be cut without danger r>f 
excessive washing. Naturally the forest requires selection cut- 
ting. 

The pines and yellow poplar require reproduction in all cases 
from seed. To supply smaller wood for fuel and farm use most of 
the broad leaf-trees can be reproduced from stool-shoots. 

Fields are seeded by pines and to some extent by locust : rarely 
by nut-bearing trees. The yellow poplar will propagate in thin 
woods on a damp soil as the seedlings require some shade. The 
short-leaf is the most valuable of the pines, and thougli at lirst 
not the most rapid-growing, the Jersey or scrub out growing it, 
should be protected at the expense of the others if it is intended 
to permit the trees to reach a large size. 

WHITE PINE FORESTS. 

The woodland in which white pine is the dominant coniferous 
tree is not extensive, but lies in isolated, small bodies along the 
crest, and southern and eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge, or on the 
low hills on the west. 

The most extensive forests containing white pine lie in the 
southeastern part of Ashe county, extending, though interrupted, 



216 FOKESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

lip the valley of the South Fork of New river into Watauga 
county; in the upper valley of the Linville river in Mitchell 
county ; in the valley of the French Broad river in Transylvania 
county ; and in the southern parts of Macon and Jackson coun- 
ties, at an elevation »of 2,800 to 3,800 feet above sea level, exten- 
sive forests seldom being found above the higher limit, or perfect 
individual development attained below the lower. The total area 
of white pine forest is not over 200,000 acres. 

In a few places on the southern slope of the Blue Ridge, par- 
ticularly along the headwaters of the Elk, Yadkin, and Roaring 
rivers in Wilkes and McDowell counties, and the upper valley of 
the Johns river, the white pine is associated with yellow pines as 
well as with deciduous trees, but the trees are generally short- 
boled and neither so large nor tall as those growing at a higher 
elevation to the west of this range. 

Single specimens or small groups of trees are locally dispersed 
in the broad-leaf forests throughout the mountain counties 
between the limits of altitude given above. Their value, how- 
ever, is potential rather than actual, since, growing on the thin- 
soiled crests of ridges and failing to develop clear shafts, they lack 
the essential requirements of timber trees ; but, as possible sources 
for the dissemination of seed either in denuded land or in thinned 
woodland, especially where pastured, their utility may become 
great. Such groups of trees are to be found in Alleghany, 
Madison, Haywood, and Graham counties, besides in portions of 
other counties in which bodies of more compact growth occnr. 

The white pine is generally associated with white, black, red, 
and less often, scarlet and chestnut oaks, chestnut, and hickory, 
when growing along the crests or Hanks of rolling hills, on coarse, 
often porous, gravelly, loamy soils; or less frequently with liem- 
lock, sweet and yellow birch, red oak, and pitch pine along moist 
or wet fluvial deposits on fertile, loamy soils. 

CONDITION OF THE WHITE PINE FORESTS. 

In some localities these forests have been extensively culled or 
lumbered ; in others, their integrity is as yet scarcely broken. 
Where they have not been dismembered two groups of trees are 



CONDITION OF THE WHITE I'INK FOUKSTS. 217 

represented : white pine, forming an upper group, from 100 to 150 
feet in height, and usually .1 to .3 of the growth ; beneath this, 
a group of deciduous trees of varying height, but rarely over 90 
or less than 70 feet, composed chiefly of white, black, and chest- 
nut oak, and chestnut. Of these, white oak is the most abun- 
dant. 

Where lumbered they are irregular; occasional decrepit white 
pines overtopping the deciduous growth, which, however, has 
been cut into only locally ; but where around settlements both 
pine and hardwoods have been culled the entire cover is broken 
and thin. 

One of the eflfects of pasturing forest lands is that while 
3'Oung plants of deciduous trees have been destroyed, pines have 
increased ; but where burning is practiced, sourwood, scarlet oak, 
white oak and other vigorous and free sprouters have propagated 
most rapidly, while pines have diminished. 

In a few places a heavy underwood of the great laurel, less 
commonly of laurel (ivy), grows beneath the deciduous trees, form- 
ing a thicket 10 to 15 feet in height, with many (;rooked stocks 
rising from the same burly roots. Where this underwood is pres- 
ent the deciduous growth above is usually more open, but brows- 
ing cattle have inflicted less damage on young growth of tender- 
leaf species, and flres are less frequent ; the humus is thick and 
the soil unimpaired. 

There are only few farms in tlie area of white pine forest; 
probably less than 20 per cent, of the total acreage being under 
cultivation. In Ashe and Watauga counties the forest is divided 
chiefly among small farms ; in Mitchell and Macon are large areas 
thinly settled. On the farms the woodland has been more largely 
cnlled and pastured, and its density will seldom be above two- 
thirds of the normal condition. 

A few groves of vigorous young pines have sprung up in the 
fields from the self-sown seed of neighboring forest trees ; but 
such groves are not common. Young pines are increasing in the 
woodland only to an inconsiderable extent. Much of the bottom 
land on which this pine grows has already been deforested, and 
it is probable that all of it will eventually be brought under 



218 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

cultivation, as tlie soil is of superior quality and stands tillage 
better than that of the adjacent hills. The forests on the hills, 
however, should be regarded as permanent, and care bestowed on 
them accordingly. • 

Larger pines, being protected by their thick bark, are damaged 
only to a sliglit extent by tires ; yoamg ones while the bark is yet 
smooth are more readily scorched and injured and sometime 
killed. Oaks and chestnuts show hollows from the effects of fires,, 
particularly along ridges and in dry woods. 

MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF THE WHITE PINE FORESTS 

Extensive areas of nnlumbered forest still exist in Transylvania, 
Macon and Mitchell counties. The standing trees will yield fairly 
good lumber, though it is seldom that over two cuts, 16 feet in 
length, from which clear boards are obtainable, can be secured 
from one tree. Smaller bodies yielding a larger proportion of 
knotty timber are standing in AVilkes, McDowell, and Caldwell 
counties. Lumbering is in progress in Mitchell, Caldwell, and 
Wilkes counties. 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHITE PINE FORESTS. 

At the higher altitudes these forests are capable of producing^ 
pine milling timber of good quality, large chestnut and oak tim- 
ber, ties and fencing. At present there is no local market. Below 
2,000 feet the pines fail to clear their sto<i;ks and the growth is- 
slower, so that very little lumber free from knots can be made 
from any trunk. 

In places where there is young growth, protection from fire and 
cattle is imperative. Defective seed-bearing pines, which are not 
seriously interfering with young growth, should be allowed tO' 
remain as seed-trees, both in lumbering and where culliiiig i& 
carried on. It is essential tliat the growth be maintained at the 
fullest possible density until the young pines liave cleared them- 
selves, as otherwise from their tendency towards perfect symme- 
try in the development of most of the buds into limbs, the boles- 
will be limby and knotty. As the young trees recjuire small grow- 
ing-space, the crowns standing much lateral compression and 



FORESTS OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS 219 

being to a certain extent shade-bearing, tiie density can scarcely 
be too great nntil the trees reach the size of large poles. The rate 
of height-growth is more rapid than that of any of the associated 
species, averaging for the first fifty years over a foot of height-growth 
a year ; and for the first ten years nearly 18 inches a year, so 
that the young trees qnickly free themselves from the shade of 
broad-leaf trees when growing with them. 

The white pine seeds many old fields, but not so ([uickly <^r 
thoroughly as the short-leaf pine. In such groves of pure pine 
the stand should be kept thick and should not be culled until the 
lieight-growtli is made.' If grown in pure wood, selection cutting 
would best preserve the factors of the locality, but there are many 
places where clear cutting would be permissible. The proportion 
of pine ill wood mixed with hroad-leaf trees can well be increased 
to twice or even three times what it is at present, as it is the 
most valuable tree growing on these gravelly hills. The pine 
begins to seed in abundance when about forty or forty-five years 
old, and seed are borne abundantly once in 2 or 3 years. 

THE FORESTS OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. 

These forests embrace all the woodland lying at an elevation 
above that of the forests of the lower hills and below 5,000 feet. 
The loAver limit of their distribution is about 3,000 feet, but on 
southern slopes, particularly along the Blue Ridge, the distinct- 
ive character of the growth does not appear for several hundred 
feet above this limit, following closely the isothermal with the 
variation incidental to changes in moisture in the soil, depth of 
soil, and its physical characters. 

The greater part of the woodland of the counties of Alleghany, 
Ashe, Watauga, Mitchell, and Yancey is so situated ; and in the 
mountain region to the south of these counties, the woodbind 
lying around the base and on the slopes of the larger mountain 
masses. 

About one-third of the area originally occupied by these for- 
ests is now under tillage or in meadow ; the rest is more nearly 
virgin than any other considerable extent of forest to be found in 
this State. The situation, on steep slopes or rugged declivities. 



220 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

the distance from large waterways, and the inaccessibility of the 
region to railways, has rendered it impossible to economically 
remove any but the most valuable timbers ; while difficulty of til- 
lage, and the short growing-season have tended to prevent exten- 
sive cultivation of those lands lying above 3,500 feet elevation. 

SOILS OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. 

The soils are rather fine and even-grained loams, gray or red 
in color,, or black from organic ingredients; the loamy and gen- 
erally stifFer sub-soils red or gray. Over. the larger part of the 
area they are derived from the decomposition, in situ, of gneiss or 
gneissic rocks or schists, and are sufficiently deep for tree-growth, 
particularly along the lower slopes, where detritus washed from 
above has accumulated or obscurely marked river terraces exist. 

In portions of Cherokee and Graham counties, and locally else- 
Avhere, the soils derived from slates, quartzite and metamorphosed 
sandstones are shallower, thinner and not so favorable to tree- 
growth. The soils of the upper slopes are thinnest, the clayey 
particles being more largely washed out, and are sometimes shal- 
low. Those of the sedimentary bottoms are more loamy and 
coarser, with more organic constituents and less clayey, sometimes 
underlaid by pipe clay, and ill-drained. The soils of the lower 
slopes are generally deep and are the most clayey. 

FOREST TREES OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. 

The forests of the high mountains may be divided into (1) those 
lying on the crests, and on the slopes facing the south, and (2) 
those of the north slopes and hollows, and along the bottom lands. 
The soils of south hill-sides are drier and are thinner than those 
on slopes with a northerly aspect, and the amount of light and 
heat is greater than is secured on hill-sides with equal inclination 
to the north, and the trees are consequently of more light-demand- 
ing kinds. 

The trees occurring on the slopes facing the north and in the 
hollows are: hemlock, birches, maples, beech, chestnut, red oak, 
white oak, great laurel, yellow poplar, white ash, cucumber, 



N. C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



BULLETIN 6. PLATE XXIII. 




MIXED HARDWOOD FOREST OF THE MOUNTAIN REGION 



CONDITION OF THE FORESTS. 221 

buckeye. The characteristic trees which are to be found 
on the northern slopes and hollows are: hemlock, i^reat laurel, 
sweet birch, yellow birch. (Plate XXIII.) 

On the southern slopes and alone; the gravelly crests of the hills 
the growth is less varied, being largely composed of chestnut, 
white oak, red oak, black oak, and chestnut oak. The forest on 
southern slopes is less dense than on northern and the trees are 
smaller. 

CONDITION OF THE FORESTS. 

The cover of these forests has scarcely been broken, the to])s of 
the trees presenting a nearly uniform surface throughout, the 
crowns closely interlocking and forming a dense shade. Beneath 
them is a good floor, usually free from grass and weeds and gen- 
erally with a deep humus. 

On the best soils along the lower slopes and bottoms the forests 
attain an average height of from 90 to 120 feet, with clear shafts of 
60 to 90 feet, bearing narrow crowns. On the poorer and thinner 
soils, particularly towards the upper slopes, the forests become 
low and less dense, the cover often thin and open, the boles of the 
trees shorter, generally crooked and knotty, bearing great spread- 
ing crowns. 

In very many places there are two groups of trees represented 
in the forest : a dominant arborescent growth of large trees varied 
as to species and forming the commercially valuable timbers ; 
beneath them a group of evergreen shrubs or uuder-trees, often of 
great density, formed of the great rhododendron and laurel. In 
most places there is present a vigorous young growth of the domi- 
nant group of trees if they are shade-bearing species : beech, 
birch, and hemlock on the wetter soils ; sugar maple and occasion- 
ally red oak on the drier, the young growth forming thickets, 
sometimes of pure growth, beneath the parent trees ; but where 
the cover has been broken by trees being removed in lumbering 
or by windfalls, irregular thickets of light-loving spe(;ies spring 
up: chestnut, cucumber tree, yellow poplar, white ash, white and 
red oaks, which can endure a deep shade only for a short time. 

Browsing cattle have damaged young growth to a^reat extent, 



222 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

especially such kinds as will not endure, beneath the shade of 
Other trees, repeated cropping: yellow poplar, white ash and 
oak ; sugar maple and beech to a less degree. In many places 
abont fallen trees and the openings made in lumbering, where 
there would be a heavy young stand, cattle have prevented its 
growth until thickets of brambles have sprung up within which 
young seedling trees find protection. 

Forest fires have inflicted only slight injury either to standing- 
timber or to young growth on the northern slopes, as the damp 
or fresh humus does not readily carry fire, but on the south sides 
much timber has been damaged. 

MERCHANTABLE TIMBER OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. 

Merchantable trees of walnut and cherry, which have been 
much sought, after for cabinet-making have been nearly all 
removed. Occasionally large trees of the former kind are to be 
found, and a few small boaies of the latter still exist upon the 
higher mountains. Yellow poplar and cucumber-tree, being the 
chief building materials of the region, have lai'gely been removed ; 
large bodies are still to be found, however, intact, particularly in 
Yancey, Mitchell, and Transylvania counties, and smaller ones in 
many other places in the mountains. Floating timbers, white 
pine, yellow poplar, ash and chestnut have been largely removed 
from the lower valley of the French Broad to supply mills at 
Asheville. Oak has been cut nowhere except for local use. The 
Little Tennessee river and its tributaries have had much of the float- 
ing timber removed from them near the water courses. Hemlock 
has been cat only around Cranberry and adjacent to some of the 
larger water courses. Ash has been generally removed wher- 
ever uieans of transportation were available. Birch, except 
curly yellow birch, has never been lumbered, and the same is true 
of maple, beech, and lin (basswood). 

Chestnut has been locally removed. Around all settlements 
and farming communities a great portion of the oak, chestnut and 
poplar has been removed, and the forests are much broketi. 

FOREST INDUSTRIES OF THE MOUNTAIN REGION. 

There are mills sawing lumber at Linville, Cranberry, Asheville 



FORESTS OF T]TE iMOUNTAIN SUMMITS. 223 

and Hot Springs and small ones along and near the railways. The 
Watauga, Toe, Little Tennessee river and its tributaries aft'ord 
transportation, the timber going to various places in East Ten- 
nessee, chiefly, though, to Knoxville. Hemlock is barked around 
Cranberry for tanneries at Elizabethton, Tenn., and chestnut oak 
is barked around Asheville for local tanneries. No use is made 
of the hemlock stocks after they have been barked ; the oak is 
converted into cordwood and sold for fuel. AValnut, curly ash 
and curly birch are shipped in the log to veneering factories. The 
best quality of yellow poplar, ash, and oak timber from here goes 
chiefly to Philadelphia and Cincinnati, and other inland points, 
«awn in S to 12 inch squares. Locust pins are manufactured at 
Bryson City, Waynesville and other places. Only a few staves 
are made and not many white oak railway ties are produced. 

In the more remote districts birch oil {oil of wintergreen) from 
the sweet birch is distilled in crude home-made retorts, constructed 
■of wood, lined with clay and with metal bottoms. This was an 
•extensive and profitable industry until overproduction reduced 
the price. The timber of trees thus barked is rarely used. 

Among other smaller industries, which are carried on with 
moie or less profit, are keeping bees, in sections where the sour- 
wood, yellow poplar and lin are abundant, to utilize their flowers 
for honey ; the sale of nuts from the native chestnut ; and the 
manufacture of syrup and sugar from the maples. 

THE FORESTS OF THE MOUNTAIN SUMMITS. 

The black spruce is the characteristic tree of these forests. 
"With it is generally associated the Carolina balsam, the lower 
limit of which is about 300 feet above that of the black spruce. 

The mountain ash (mountain sumach), striped and spiked 
'maples and wild red cherry are small broad-leaf trees which are 
-usually found growing, though not abundantly, with the l)alsam 
and spruce. 

These forests of sombre evergreens lie along the summits of the 
highest mountains, seldom being found on peaks with an eleva- 
tion of less than 5,500 feet above sea level. They cap the Grand- 
father and the adjacent pinnacle of the Grandmother; encircle in 
a g-reat belt the rounded bald of the Roan ; stretch along the 



224 FORESTS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

nimierous massive peaks of the Blacks from Bolen's Pyramid to 
the Pinnacle ; lie on the top of Pisgah ; cover the crests and upper 
slopes of the Great Smoky mountains and the cross-chain of the 
Balsams as a nearly continuous forest for a distance of almost 
thirty miles,, and crown the tops of the higher peaks of the south- 
ern parts of Macon and Jackson counties. From their dark foliage 
the Blacks and Great Smoky mountains derive their names, and 
the Balsam mountains from the grov^^th upon them. The lower 
limits of the forests lie on an average above 5,000 feet above sea 
level, or a little less. On north slopes, within deep and cool hol- 
lows, they extend as low as 4,700 on the Grandfather mountain, 
4,600 feet at the head of Caney river in the Blacks, and 4,500 
feet at the head of Forney's creek in the Great Smoky mountains, 
while on bold south slopes, as occur in the Blacks and elsewhere, 
the broad-leaf trees will often extend, as higli as 5,300 or 5,500 
feet. 

Commercially these forests are at present unimportant. 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Abies fraseri IHO 

Acer taarbatuni 50 

leucoderine 2',i 

dasycarpnm 51 

leticoclerme 23 

negundo 53 

pennsylvanicuu) -tS) 

rubi'iim 52 

saccliarinuu], L 51 

saccliarinum, Waii.u' 50 

spicatvim. -ts 

Aesculiis octandra 47 

Amelauchier canadensis 60 

Apple, crab 27 

AborvitcB 19, 119 

Asli 70. 72, 73, 74 

green 21,73 

mountain 20 

red 21,73 

water 21,73 

white 21. 70 

Asimina triloba 41 

Aspen 23. 117 

Balsam 1<), 136 

Bald cypress 122 

Basswbod 23, 43 

Bav 43 

"bull 43 

loblolly 26, 43 

red - 26, 74 

smooth red 26 

swamp 34 

sweet 26, 34, 74 

white 33.34 

Beech : 38,111 

blue 113 

water 113 

Betulaleuta 115 

lutea 113 

niKra 114 

Birch, bitter 113 

black ^ 114,115 

cherry 28,115 

red 114 

river 38, 114 

sweet 38 

vellow 38,113 

Bitternut 31,84 

Black gum 26. 63 

spruce 19.133 

walnut 21,83 

Boxelder 21, 53 

Boxwood 47, 63 

Buckeye 31, 47 

Butternut -—83 

Button wood 81 

Carolina Balsam, see balsam. 
Carolina hemlock, see hemlock. 

Carpynus carollniana 113 

Carya alba 86 

amara 84 

tomentosa 87 

Castanea dentata 109 

pumila 26 

Cedar, red 19,131 

swamps I'^S, 177 

white - 19, 119, 175 

white, treatment of 178 

white, merchantable 177 

Celtis occidentalis 80 

Cercis canadensis 57 

Cherry, bird 58 

are 58 

wild black 37, 59 



PVGK. 

wild red 37, .5S 

Chestnut ^o, lOi) 

Chinquapin .• 26 

Chionanihus vlrgiaica 21 

Chittani se 

Coastal plain 143 

forests Hi 

forest industries 164 

Cottonw'OOd 2"^, 118 

Deciduous forests of the t'ledmont pla- 
teau |i;6, liH), 203 

Deerwood 40 

Devil wood .31 

Diospyros virginiana (iS 

Dogwood 33,6;) 

flowering '.63 

swamp 48, 49 

Elm, American 29, 76 

cork '17 

slippery 39, 78 

southern 77 

winged 39, 77 

Fagus lerrugitiea Ill 

Purest divisions, see under coastal 
plain. Piedmont plateau and moun- 
tain region. 

Forest growth of coastal plain 143. 147 

mountain rtgion.. 310.31.3. 

215, 220, 223 
of Piedmont plateau. .182, 

180, 188, 196, 204 
Forest improvement in coastal plain . 1.59 

l(i4, 173 

in mountain region 312, 315, 318 

in Piedmont plateau. .185, 198, 207 
Forest Indusiries of coastal plain. ..158, 164 
of mountain regioa-..233 
of Piedmont plnteau..206 
Forest nTanagement,seef. improvement, 
and under sylvicultural treatment; 
also under each tree. 
Forest protection in coastal plain.. ..159. 

164, 172, 178, 180 
in mountain region .213 

215, 218 
in Piedmont plateau, 

185, I'.n. 193 198,207 

Forest regions Ill, 143. 143, 181, 208 

Forest soils of coastal plain. .141. 144, 149 

152, 168, 170, 173. 175, 179 
Of mountain region. .142, 210, 

213. 220 
of Piedmont plateau . 143, 183 
187, 189, 191, 194, 196, 304 
Forests, deciduous, of Piedai't i)1at^'an..l96 
Forests, influences wliich account for 
change of growth of, 113, 181, 183, 1S6, 
308, 220 ; also see soils. 

Forests, maritime 144 

Forests of coastal plain 14;j 

of eastern pine belt of Piedmont 

plateau 196 

of granite areas (eastern) 189 

of Sum and cypress 173 

of higher mountains 219 

of long leaf pine 149 

of loblolly pine 161 

of lower mountaiQS 209 

of maritime belt 144 

of mountain region 208 

of mountain summits 323 

of oak flats 170 

of Piedmont lowlands 182 

of Piedmont region 181 



226 



PAGK. 

of Piedmont uplands 18(3 

of pine belt of coastal plain 147 

of pine belt of Piedmont plateau, 

eastern 18S 

of pine belt of Piedmont plateau, 

western 204 

of red clays 19s 

of sandstone, easci ru 191 

of short-leaf pine 188, 204, 203 

of slate soils 194 

of swamps 169, 183 

of white cedar 175 

ot white pine 315 

Fraxinuds americana 70 

caroliniana 73 

pennsylvanica 73 

pennsylvanica lanceolata 73 

Frinsre tree 21 

Gleditschia triacanthos 5(5 

Gordonia lasianthus 43 

Gum 01, 63 

black., 26, 63 

sour 63 

tupelo 26,65 

Gum and cypress swamps 173 

timber I'H 

Hackberry 37,80 

Haws, black 23 

red 27 

He balsam 133 

Hemlock 19, 134, 135 

Carolina 19, 135, 211 

Hicoria alba 87 

aquatica 85 

carolin8e-septentrionalis....20, 201 

glabra ss 

minima ..84 

ovata 86 

laciniosa 20 

odorata 20 

villosa 21 

Hickory, big-bud 87 

bittermit 21, 84 

Carolina shag-bark 20 

large shag bark 20 

pignut - 20, 88 

red-heart 20, 84 

sand 21 

scaly -bark 88 

shag-bark 20, 86 

smallHUt 20 

small shag-bark 20, 301 

swamp 85 

water 21, 85 

white 21, 87 

Holly : 23,46 

Hop-hornbeam 29, 112 

Hovnbeam 38, 113 

Ilex opaca 46 

Indian bitters 38 

Ironwood 47, 112, 113 

Ivy 67 

Judas tree 57 

Juglans ciuerea 83 

nigra 83 

Juniper -.19,119 

Juniperus virginiaua 121 

Kalmia latifolia 67 

Laurel 67,68 

Leatherwood 47 

Level pine woodland, also see under 

forest 152, 156, 161 

Lin 33, 43,45 

soutlieru 33, 44 

Linden 43, 44, 45 

Liriodendron tulipifera 39 

Loblolly pine, also see pine. ..18, 135, 161, 193 

condition of forest 163 

merchantable 163 

protection 164 

reproduction 165 

sylvicultural treatment. 165 
woodland 161 



PAUE. 

Locust 54 

black 54 

clammy 20, 55 

honey.:". 20,56 

yellow 20, 54 

Long-leaf pine .18, 131 

condition of 153, 156 

distributi n 151 

protSL'tion 154, 159 

soils on which grows. 153, 156 
sylvicultural tr. atni nt.l59 

woodland 150, 151 

Magnolia (evergreen) 23, 33 

acuminata 35 

foetida 33 

fraseri 38 

glauca 34 

grandifloi'a 33 

great-leaved 34, 36 

macrophylla 36 

mountain 34, 38 

tripetala 37 

Maple 32,51,52 

ashleat 53 

mountain 22, 48 

red 23,49 

rock 50 

silver 23, 51 

soft 51 

striped 33,49 

sugar 50 

swamp 53 

white -.33 

white bark 33 

Maritime forests, condition of 145 

soils ot 144 

Mockernut 87 

Mock orange 36 

Mohrod°ndron carolinum 70 

Morus rubra 79 

Mountain ash 30 

magnolia 38 

maple 48 

Mountain region, division 208 

forests of, see under forests. 

Mulberry 23,79 

Oak, description of : 

Bartram's oak 25 

basket 95 

black 2.5,101 

black-jack 34,104 

blue 107 

buck 93 

chestnut 35, 93 

cow 95 

tork-leaf black-jack 25, 103 

laurel 34, 106 

Lea's 24 

live 34, 96 

northern red 35 

overcup 35, 93 

pin 106 

post 35, 91 

red 25, 97, 99, 103 

rock chtstnut 25, 93 

sand 25, 1U3 

sand b!ack-iack 25, 102 

scarlet 25, 99 

scrub 102 

spotted 99 

shiuKle 24, 107 

Spanish 25, 99, 103 

swamp chestnut 25, 95 

swamp post 92 

swamp red 98 

swamp white 95 

Texas red S5, 98 

tiu-key 102, 106, 107 

viplan'd willow 24, 107 

water 24, 105, 106 

white 25, 89 

willow 24, 106, 108 

Oak flats 170 



INDEX 



227 



PAGE. 

Oak flats soils of 171 

timber of 172 

treatment of 172 

Olive, American 21 

Osmautlius americana 21 

Ostrya virginica 112 

Oxvclendron arboreum 66 

Palmetto 29,136 

Papaw 41 

Persea borbonia 26, 74 

borbonia pubescens 26 

Persimmon 27, 68 

Peruvian 58 

Picea nigra , 133 

Piedmont plateau divisions, see forest. 
Piedmont plateau forests, see forest. 

Pignut 30,88 

Pine barrens, see forests. 
Pine belt, see forests. 
Pine, description of : 

black 126 

cedar 128 

heart 130 

Jersey 18,138 

loblolly 18, 125 

long -leaf 18, 131 

northern pitch 18, 136 

pond 18,127 

white 18,123 

short-leaf 18,130 

scrub 18, 128 

spruce 138, 130, 134, 135 

Table mountain -....18, 129 

yellow 130 

Pinus echinata 130 

mitis 130 

palustris 131 

pungens 129 

rigida ..126 

serotina 137 

taeda... 125 

strobus 133 

vii'giniana 1^8 

Planer tree ....38 

Platanus occidentalis 81 

Plum, wild 27 

Poplar 117 

Carolina 118 

yellow 23, 39 

Populus grandidenta 117 

heterophylla Il8 

monilifera Il8 

Prickly ash 19 

Prunus americana ■''^'^ 

angustifolia 27 

caroliniana --"^ 

pennsylvaulca. 58 

serotina 59 

Pyrus americana .20 

angustifolia 27 

coronaria 27 

Quercus alba 89 

aquatica l05 

brevifolia l07 

catesbsei l03 

cinerea l07 

coccinea 99 

cuneata 103 

digitata l03 

heterophylla 25 

imbricaria - l07 

laurifolia 106 

leana 24 

lyrata 92 

marilandica 104 

micliauxii 96 

minor 91 

nigra 104,105 



PAGK. 

(Juercus phellos lOH 

prlnus !I3 

rubra fl7 

texana »8 

tinctoria 101 

velutina IQI 

virens 9(i 

virginiana 5)6 

Rainfall 141, 142 

Red bay 26, 74 

Kedbud 22,' 57 

Red cedar i9, 12] 

Red gum ei 

Rhododendron 68 

Rhododendron maximum 6« 

Robinia ijseudacacia 54 

viscosa 55 

Sabal palmetto 136 

Salix nigra lie 

Sandstone belt, forests of 191 

Sassafras 26, 75 

Sassafras sassafras 75 

Service tree 27, 60 

Shad bush 60 

Short leaf pine 18, 130 

Silverbell tree 70 

Snowdrop tree 28, 70 

Sorrell tree 66 

Sourwood 66 

Spruce, black 18, 133 

Spruce pine 128, 130, 134, 135 

Soils, see forest. 

Sugar tree 50 

Swamps, see white cedar, gum and cy- 
press, and oak flats. 

of coastal plain 169 

of Piedmont plateau 1S2 

Sweet bay 26, 14.5, 148 

smooth 26, 145, 146, 148 

Sweet gum 23, 61 

Sweet birch 28 

Sycamore 23, 81 

Taxodium distichum 122 

distichum imbricaria 19 

Temperature, annual, of forest regions 

141, 143 

Thorns (haw) 37 

Thuja occidentalis 119 

Tilla americana 43 

heterophylea 45 

pubescens 44 

Transitional forests 168 

Tsuga caroliniana 135 

canadensis 134 

Tulip-tree 23,39 

Tupelo gum 26. 65 

Ulmus alata 77 

americana 76 

fulva 78 

Umbrella tree 34, 37 

Viburnum 23 

Virgilia 56 

Wahoo 38, 77 

Walnut, black 21, 83 

white 21,82 

Water beech 113 

White pine 18, 133 

forests 215 

treatment of 318 

Whitewood 39 

Wickv 67 

Willow 116 

black 27, 116 

glaucous 28 

river 116 

Ward 28 

Yellow poplar 23 



LB D 'il 



NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 

J. A. HOLMES, STATE GEOLOGIST. 









BULLETIN No. 5. 



TIMBER TREES AND FORESTS OF 



BY 

GIFFORD PINCHOT 

AND 

W. W. ASHE. 




WINSTON : 

M. I. & J. C. Stewart, Pubwc Printers. 

1897. 



Monograph 



BULLETINS OF THE NORTH CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL 

SUEYEY. 



I. Iron Ores of North Carolina, by Henry B. C. Nitze, 1893. 8°, 239 
pp.|20 pi., and map Postage 10 cents. 

2. Building Stone in North Carolina, by Joseph A. Holmes and 

J. Volney Lewis ....*. In preparation. 

8. Grold Deposits of North Carolina, by Henry B. C, Nitze and Geo. 

B. Hanna, 1896. 8°, 196 pp., 14 pi., and map Postage 8 cents. 

4. . Road Material and Road Construction in North Carolina, by J, 
A. Holmes and William Cain, 1893. 8°, 88 pp Out of print. 

5. The Forests, Forest Lands, and Forest Products of Eastern North 
Carolina, by W. W. Ashe, 1894. 8°, 128 pp., 5 pi Postage 5 cents. 

6. The Timber Trees of North Carolina, by Giflord Pinchot and 
W. W. Ashe, imt S'', 227 pp., 22 pi Postage 10 cents. 

7. Forest Fires ; Their Destructive Work, Causes and Prevention, by 
W. W. Ashe, 1895. 8°, 66 pp., 1 pi Postage 4 cents. 

8. Water Powers in North Carolina, by G-eorge F. Swain and 
Joseph A. Holmes In press. 

9. Monazite and Monazite Deposits in North Carolina, by Henry B. 

C. Nitze, 1895. 8°, 47 pp., 5 pi Postage 4 cents. 

10. Gold Mining in North Carolina and Other Appalachian States, by 
Henry B. C. Nitze and A. J. Wilkins In preparation. 

II. Corundum and the Basic Magnesian Rocks of Western North 
Carolina, by J. Volney Lewis, 1895. 8°, 107 pp., 6 pi... Postage 4 cents. 

12. Drinking Water Suijplies in North Carolina, by Joseph A. 
Holmes - In preparation. 

13. Clay Deposits and Clay Industrie's in North Carolina, by Joseph 
A. Holmes and Heinrich Reis In press. 

14. Mica Deposits and Mica Mining in North Carolina, by Joseph A. 
Holmes In preparation. 

15. Mineral Waters of North Carolina, by F. P. Tena- 
ble - - In preparation. 

16. A List of Elevations in North Carolina, by Joseph A. 
Holmes In preparation. 

17. Historical Sketch of North Carolina Scientific and Economic Sur- 
veys ; and Bibliography of North Carolina Geology and Mineralogy, by 
Joseph A. Holmes In preparation. 

18. Road Improvement in North Carolina, by J. A. Holmes and Wm. 
Cain In press. 

These publications are mailed to libraries, and to individuals Avho may 
desire information on any of the special subjects named, free of charge, 
except that in each case applicants for the reports should forward the 
amount of postage needed, as indicated above, for mailing the bulletins 
desired, to the State Geologist, Chapel Hill, N. C. 



